Hunter or Hunted
by myloveofroses
Summary: Rain, a Vampire hunter, gets a big job. The mission is to kill a very powerful Vampire. Easy enough with her partner Ame in charge. The only problem is, Rain has never met a Vampire quite like the charming Grayson. And how does Ryker fit into all this?
1. Chapter 1

**A White Rose**

The red rose whispers of passion,  
And the white rose breathes of love;  
O, the red rose is a falcon,  
And the white rose is a dove.  
But I send you a cream-white rosebud  
With a flush on its petal tips;  
For the love that is purest and sweetest  
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

- J B O'Reilly (1844-1890) -

My name, Rain Night. My age, 21. My job, Vampire hunter. Now I know it's not your average job but I'm not your average girl. You see after high school I moved out of my parent's house and into an apartment with my best friend, Ame. Now let me tell you the part thats not so normal. The apartment is full of other hunters like myself. Which is about when Ame and I became a hunters.

When we first moved in we met some girls who we instantly became friends with. We all go to the same college and live in the same apartment so we ran into the girls a lot. After awhile the girls came to trust us and let us in on their secret. Now at this time we didn't even know vampires were real and never even considered hunting them. The girls told us a little about the job and how things were done. I think the thing that got Ame's attention was the amount of money she could make. See she hated her job and this was a good solution to help with her aggression and need for money.

They trained us after our classes were done every night for an hour. After they finally thought we were ready they took us on a real job. Now normally we go in groups of two but seeing as this was our first time Ame and I went with two other girls, Evangeline and Maya. That was the first time I have ever really saw a vampire. They try to prepare you but the words don't compare to the real thing. They are beautiful beyond belief and faster than anything I you could ever imagine. You can't let their beauty distract you or it could be fatal. They don't always look that beautiful though only when they let there control go and they have to feed do u really see the beauty. They disguise it when they are in public as to not attract attention.

My first time was not so good for me or Ame. Luckily for us Evangeline and Maya were there. Later that night they told us that they knew we wouldn't be able to do it on our first try but that it was just a lesson we had to learn for the next time. Eventually we got the hang of it and Evangeline and Maya didn't have to hunt with us anymore.

It's not my favorite job but it's my life and I can't really turn back now. Before all this I wanted to be an English teacher and Ame wanted to be an accountant. Ame would never have been satisfied with that life though, that's what her family expected of her. Ame is way to adventurous to keep to that profession. This is the type of life she is content with. I on the other hand would love to be a teacher after college, but that's never going to happen.

Ame's biggest enemy is Amber. Sometimes I think she hates Amber more than the vampires she kills. Everyone else she is close with, Jayla Lena, Madelynn, Trinity, and of course Maya and Evangeline. Amber doesn't really talk to me but she doesn't mess with me like she does Ame either.

Tomorrow night I will have another hunt to go on with Ame so this morning I'll rest in a little more before class begins. New year new classes, it has been that way for the last two years of my life. Despite my job I am still going to college to get my degree for teaching. Ame is only staying in so her family doesn't wonder why she isn't coming home. Eventually she will have to deal with her family but she is going to try to put it off as long as she can.

It is time to go to class. I am smart but I don't like class. The teachers don't care they just drown on with lectures and give tests. Most of the time it's ok to skip some days as long as you read what the teacher lectures about in the books. As long as you don't skip tests you can pass.

I take my seat. I usually try to get in the middle. I don't like being in the front, the teachers notice you then, and I don't like the back. I am usually one of the first people in the classroom; which I don't get because I like to sleep in.

I am again one of the first people in the classroom. Soon the class fills up and the teacher starts his lecture. "My name is Professor Brewer. Not Brewer, man, dude, or anything else. Now for class today I'll be going over chapter one in the book. The book you were all suppose to have for this class."

He continued with his lecture. I took this time to look around. This class was filled with people not really paying attention to Prof. Brewer. Some were reading the chapter, some were doodling, and others falling asleep. And just from that I knew this class would be a very long hour that I would try to skip as much as possible.

The bell finally rang dismissing the class. I have decided to take only 3 classes this year and my next class is in 2 hours so I figured I would walk back to the apartment and take a nap.

On the walk back to the apartment I noticed that it was cold and windy today. That's not really good when you have to hunt because the wind will blow your scent through the air. You can use that to your advantage though. If you want to play innocent human alone on a street or alley way. Your partner has to hide farther away though and that isn't safe. So really it's a bad thing but it can be managed.

I enjoy the cold breeze and decide to take the long way back to the apartment. There are a lot of people out today but they all seem to be in a hurry. I just want to skip the rest of the day and relax it is nice to be outside in the cool air. I really can't though, missing school on the first day is never a good thing. I would drop out but I really want to finish so I can at least have the degree to become a teacher if I don't die on this job. With the money I'm making now I really don't need a fall back plan but I still want to finish that goal. I guess it makes me feel normal. Like how it was suppose to be.

While I was deep in thought I didn't notice the person standing right in front of me. I walked right into him. "I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking!" I exclaimed. I looked up to notice that I ran into one of the hottest guys I have ever seen in my entire life. I've seen some pretty hot guys remember vampire guys are hot but I'm not into them so it doesn't affect me anymore. But this guy he could make even the toughest girl swoon. He has dark brown hair and midnight black eyes. He is tall and muscular.

"No problem it's just as much my fault, I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going either." He said giving me a dazzling smile. I felt compelled to smile back. "Do you go to the college around here? I think I have seen you before." he inquired. "Yes, do you?" You can't blame me for wanting to know if on the off chance I would see him again. "Yes I do as-well, I'm majoring in Business. What are you, if I may ask?" Well I'm majoring in English in hopes that one day I wont be a vampire hunter and will be able to live a normal life. "I'm majoring in English. Do you live in the dorms?" I am not going to stalk him if that is what you are thinking. "No I live in an apartment on Anderson street." I smile wider into a cheesy smile and I don't care at the moment. The only apartment on that street is the one I live in. "Oh me too! I live on the second floor." I wonder why I have never seen him before. I know if I saw him I would remember. "Oh cool I live on the first floor. Maybe we could hang out sometime?" Now I was definitely excited. "Yeah that would be cool. My name is Rain by the way." My brain must be not functioning right how could I not have told him my name earlier. "Pleasure to meet you Rain. My name is Ryker." Ryker what an interesting name. I like it! "Well Rain I must be off I have a class in a couple minutes. would you like to have dinner sometime?" Did he just ask me out, like on a date or something? "Yeah that would be great, I live in room 4c." He smiled and nodded "Well I'll drop by sometime and see if you are free." I really hope so. He continues walking in the direction of his destination.

I have been here for a year and haven't noticed him. How is that possible? He must be new this year. I start walking again noticing that I haven't moved and he isn't even in sight. I continue walking to my apartment. Even though I was excited because I met Ryker I was still thinking about my night to come and knew I had to get some sleep.

It's hard to have a boyfriend and hunt for vampires. You have to schedule your dates around your job and your school time. The only time I have between those things is when I rest. Which is one of the reasons I don't date very often. Well the other reason is because I haven't really found a guy that could keep my attention and be ok with my timing.

Getting back to my apartment was faster than I thought it would be mainly because I was so lost in thought. First thing I notice is the door to Evangeline and Maya's apartment room is slightly ajar. Instantly I get my knife that's tied to my lower leg toward my ankle. Guns don't kill vampires so there is no need for me to carry one. I quietly open the door all the way and take in my surroundings. The living room is a mess, like someone was searching for something. The couches were ripped apart and thrown around the room. Whoever searched this room didn't miss a spot. It appears that no one is in this room so I continue quietly on my search.

I go to the next room which is the kitchen. It is equally as messy, chairs shoved around the table flipped upside-down. All the drawers pulled open the things spilled on the floor. Nobody is in the room though, so I continue my search to the next room. The girls' bedroom. I quietly open the door and notice this room is also messy but the safes were not broken and all the weapons must still be in there. One of the men in the apartment makes safes that even a vampire can't break open. I search the closet to find no one in there, though all the clothes were spread around the room. The last room is the bathroom. And again like the rest of the room it is a mess. Every place in the room was found and searched.

It appears that whoever broke in was looking for something they never found. I place my knife back into its place and call Evangeline and Maya to tell them of my discovery. They are on there way over.

In no time at all they showed up. Evangeline ran to their bedroom as soon as she got through door. Maya and I followed her, trying to keep up. She opened the safe to see that nothing was missing and slowly began to calm down.

"Hidden in this safe is a secret. The secret is the only thing that keeps us going. No one but myself and the employers can get into this safe. This puts me in danger, which is why I can't allow anyone else to know the secret. Knowing how to get into the safe makes me valuable to the vampires. If they have me open this safe and get to the secret they could destroy the employers which would destroy all of us. You see the employers have a list of all the vampires killed and the name of the hunter who killed them. They keeps tabs. They also have a list of ever hunter under them. If the vampires gain that information they will seek revenge on every hunter on that list. All this information is stored in a building close to here that has this information, but it is only for this states hunters. So Maya, Rain, you can't tell anyone about this safe. You have to promise me you will keep my secret." Maya and I promised Evangeline we would keep her secret.

Every hunter in this building is under Evangeline. Maya being her partner put her next to Evangeline but not as high up. The rest of us are leveled by our killings. The more vampires you kill the higher you go up. It isn't just you that goes up it's your partner also, your killings are equal they are yours as a group. So Ame killing as many vampires as she has puts us up very high. There are a lot of us in these apartments. The highest are the nine of us. After Evangeline and Maya is Ame and me. After us is Amber, who by herself is one of the best. She can't handle being with a partner though or she would be higher than Ame and myself. After her is Lena and Jayla. And after them is Madelynn and Trinity. The rest of the hunters living in this apartment don't go after the more powerful vampires and are less important but still important. This is how the rankings will stay. The only way they change is if a hunter dies.

I guess I wont be getting my nap after all. Maybe later, I am sure Ame will want to be rested up before we go. Now I have just enough time to get to my class. Saying my goodbyes to Evangeline and Maya I start on my way to class. The walk was quick and I got there in no time.

My last 2 classes were much like the first class only they were one after the other. All the classes were important but all were boring. Some times I really think I should just quit and focus on my job, but other times I'm glad I have this so I more human.

I am human. But being a hunter sometimes makes me feel like something more. I can't really explain it. The adrenaline makes me feel invincible, like anything can happen. Which is true in a way. I could be on top about to pierce the vampires heart and in the next second thrown off trying to stay conscious. Which is one of the reasons I am glad I have a partner like Ame to back me up. When we are fighting for the kill we both seem so synchronized. We are so close to each other that we can figure out exactly what the other is planning ahead of time.

I get back to Ame and my apartment. She is talking to Maya about the break in. "This means we have to be more on guard. They know where we live and are not afraid to break in. One of us could be in the room if they decide to do it again. This time we will be on guard though and if we are in they will wish they never set foot in this apartment." Ame looks very determined. "Evangeline and I both think that they will come back and keep searching rooms until they find what they are after." Maya looks worried.

This is not good. It is one thing when you are out in an alley or a deserted street but when it's your home, your safe place. Everything changes. I thought that with the vampire finding the safe they would stop and think of another way to get into it. I thought that they knew it was in the safe. I was wrong. Evangeline would know better than I would about what is going on and if she thinks they are going to keep searching than that's probably what they are going to do.

"So on this hunt tonight if given the chance should we try to get some answers as to who is trying to get in and what they are after?" I wonder aloud. Ame and Maya draw their attention to me. "I think that would be a good idea but only do it if you are in complete control." Maya hesitantly answered. Meaning it was a good idea to get answers but it was very unsafe.

Ame looks at me and I know what she is thinking. She thinks that Evangeline knows everything already but isn't saying anything. I told her what Evangeline told Maya and me because she is my best friend and partner, she needed to know. Ame thinks that the information we get should stay between us. I nod at her meaning I agree. We don't let Maya know what we are doing, knowing she would have to tell Evangeline.

Maya left after saying we should rest before we went out tonight Ame and I agreed with her. So now Ame and I are on our way to our room. Her bed is on one side of the room and mine is on the other just like Evangeline and Maya's room. Every hunter and their partner share an apartment and are both in the same bedroom. It is that way because it is safer. If something like what happened to Maya and Evangeline would have happened while they were in the house they would have probably been napping in their bedroom. They would have more than likely heard what was going on and would have been together protecting each other and coming up with a plan. That is why staying together is safer.

The thing that is really scary about what happened to Maya and Evangeline was that it happened during the day. Most vampires sleep more during the day or pretend to be human. They try to blend in. This must be very important if the vampires are willing to go during the day and risk being caught. Evangeline never said what was in the safe that was so important. Some sort of secret. It could have a mailing identification on it or something that could give them an idea as to where the employers reside or keep the information.

"Rain do you think we should keep the information we get to ourselves until we figure out what the secret is? I mean I think Evangeline is hiding it for a reason and if we brought our information to her she might make us stop searching. I want to know what that secret is and I can tell that Maya does too but she wont search on her own because without Evangeline she would be very unsafe. She wants to know because it may help her to protect Evangeline but she knows Evangeline wont tell her. Evangeline thinks by keeping the information from us that it is protecting us but I don't know if that is really going to work. I mean if we are fighting for this secret and only Evangeline and the employers know how to get to it and what it is, then why should we have to fight for it. If I am going to fight for something I want to know what I am fighting for."

Looking up at the ceiling I think about what she is saying. Then I finally turn to look at her. "Yes I agree with you. If we get some information Evangeline will stop it and I really want to know what that secret is. I think your right about Maya too. She does want to know and she needs us to get the information without Evangeline knowing."With that being said we roll back over and go to sleep.

I wake up to see Ame getting her safe out from under her bed. We all have our own safes for our knives. She's dressed and looks like she is ready to go. I sit up and quietly get on my clothes. Then dig under my bed and my safe out. After getting at least 8 knives out and putting them in different spots on my body, hidden where nobody would notice them, I look up at Ame to notice her waiting for me. "Ready?" She asks while getting up off her bed and heading for the door. I hurry to catch up with her. "So where are we going tonight?" I ask wondering who we are after and where to go.

"Tonight we will being going to the club on Wishmer street. The vampire owns the club and has many body guards so we will either have to make a distraction or get into his private room alone with him. He is very powerful so don't underestimate him. Tonight will be different though because this will be the hardest one. We will have to be trusted by him to be alone with us. As you know vampires don't trust many and the body guards around him will trust even less. This is not a one night thing as you can by now tell. If we can make it a one night thing it would be greatly appreciated but I doubt that will happen seeing as if we want our information we will have to get close to him. Like I said this vampire is very powerful so it will take awhile for him to trust us, but we must do everything we can to get him to trust us. Well everything but let him bite us. If he gets to close kill him but prepare for the fight with the body guards." She explains as quickly as possible.

This job will not be easy. To get close to a vampire means one of two things you have to get him to be your friend and all or you have to be his girlfriend. I can already cancel out the first one. This means only one of us will get to get in close meaning one will work harder than the other. By the looks of it Ame thinks it will be her. I don't have a problem with that because I really don't want to get all cuddly with a very powerful vampire. It just bothers me when she thinks she will get him before I would even have a chance. She has always been like that though. She knows she is beautiful and that any guy would kill for her but she doesn't have to be like that with me. I am not her competition I am her partner and best friend.

We get a block from the club and Ame stops and turns to look at me. I stop and look back at her wondering why she stopped. "You know I said this wasn't a one night thing. Well this could take months. Get as close to him as you can so he will tell you everything. I was thinking we could plan a day, after one of us gets close to him, that we will surprise kill him. The one who gets close to him will have o get him to go with her to an alone spot that is easily accessible to the other and we will surprise him and kill him. That way this will go smoothly with little fighting. I don't want to have to fight him because he is to powerful for us." If Ame doesn't want to fight him then I know it is bad. She will normally take on any vampire. I nod letting her know that I agree and we continue walking.

We get to the club and get in the line. Ame and I both hate waiting. We are very impatient people and lines annoy both of us. "Do you know what he looks like?" I whisper to her. She nods and pulls out a small picture. He has short dark black hair and midnight black eyes. He is very muscular and very attractive. He is definitely a vampire. "He has a sister that is someone you should worry about. He is very over protective of her and you will want to be in her good graces to get close to him. Her name is Layne." She takes out another picture and hands it to me. She has long sleek black hair and dark midnight eyes like her brother. She is thin and very beautiful. "She is powerful too but her power doesn't compare to her brothers. She would be no problem to take out if needed." She explains. I give her back the pictures and she burns them quickly. She is not noticed.

We finally get to the front of the line. "ID please." One of the guards says while looking us over. Ame and I both give him our IDs. He nods and gives them back allowing us in. "I'll dance and see if he is out there u sit at the bar. Sound good?" I nod my head letting her know that I heard, which is unbelievable because the music is so loud.

I make my way over to the bar and sit and a stool by the end near a hallway. The bartender smiles and asks what I would like. I a mile back and tell him I just want a coke. "Are you here with friends?" He asks knowingly. I nod and smile. He must think I am going to be the DD. That's a good cover. He pulls out a coke and opens it for me. I take it and he walks to the other end of the bar to tend to other people.

I sip my drink and look around. I keep my eye on Ame without looking suspicious. She is doing the same for me. We do this so we know if the other is in trouble. It's just a safety precaution. I keep looking around to see if I can find Grayson or Layne.

I feel someone sit next to me and quickly look over. It's  
Grayson and he smiles the brilliant shiny white smile that would make anyone envious. "Are you looking for someone?" I smile back at him and reply "No just looking around. I've never been in here before." Which is partly the truth.

Acting will be the easy part for me because I can feel what I want to feel. Vampires can sence what you are feeling so that would be one thing someone would have to look out for. They know if your being fake. Which is why me being able to change emotion like this is good. When I read I feel like I am the main girl character and if she cries I feel her pain and cry with her.

"Well I hope you like it. My name is Grayson and I own this place. And your name is?" He seems to be kind of shy but not at the same time. He isn't showing off that he owns the place but he isn't hiding it either. I smile at him. " It's nice to meet you Grayson. My name is Rain." He smiles and looks over my shoulder. It is his sister Layne. "Grayson there seems to be a little trouble at the door. Sorry to interrupt." She says smiling kindly at me. He turns to me "Please excuse me Rain I'll be back in a moment." I smile and nod ok. Grayson leaves to go check out the trouble. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself, my name is Layne. Grayson said your name was Rain right?" She asks politely. "Yes that's my name. It's nice to meet you." She smiles sweetly. "Grayson doesn't smile much and I would know because I am his sister. When he was talking to you he seemed to smile a lot. Do you know each other?"

"No, actually I just met him not even 10 minutes ago."

"Well that is odd. My brother doesn't talk to very many people. He is normally very quiet and doesn't make friends easily."

Yes this has to be a good thing. Wait this could also be a bad thing if it means he wants me to be his next meal. She looks like she is sizing me up. So I hope this means it's the first one. She wouldn't take the time to talk to me if it was the second one. So he must want to get to know me.

He comes back and smiles at both of us. "Couple drunk guys fighting. Had to have some guards take them out back." He looks at Layne with a silent signal that I didn't fail to notice, though I pretended that I didn't see anything. "Well I think I'll go see if they left. Wouldn't want the police to get involved." And with that she was on her way to her next mean, two drunken guys.

"So I assume she introduced herself to you." Grayson acknowledged. I smiled "Yes but she mainly talked about you." He looked a bit startled by that. "Oh well what did she say?" He looks a bit nervous. I smirk. "Well she said your quite shy but you don't seem very shy right now. She also said you don't smile much, which that would really be ashamed because you have a wonderful smile." Yeah I am flirting but it's just for this job, nothing personal. Well at least that's what I am telling myself.

Who knew in one day I would have this many hot guys talk to me, wanting to get to know me. Let me tell you that doesn't happen very often in this town. The hot guys are either vampires like Grayson or go for girls like Ame and Amber, which is probably one of the reasons the detest each other so much. Guys that I find attractive don't live around here. But I guess that isn't true because I met Ryker earlier, and Grayson isn't so bad for being a vampire.

"I wouldn't call myself shy, I simply sit back and let the people in need of attention have the spot light. I appear when I am needed and take care of what is mine. Layne likes to be the center of attention which I wouldn't mind except she like to draw the attention of the wrong guys. And there isn't very much to smile about in my life, nothing exciting, everything is the same day after day, year after year. Nothing changes that's really important." Well that seems to be very boring but it cannot be as bad as he says.

"You started this club, that must be exciting. You seem to see the cup as half empty so to speak. I think you would be happier if your cup was half full." I smile with an all knowing smile. He smiles back and shakes his head slightly. "I have only just met you and yet you seem to, as you say, make my cup half full. You are a very lovely person to be around you could probably brighten any ones day." I unwillingly blush. "Uh thanks, but no I really don't talk to very many people. I stick with my friends most of the time."

Like it was her que Ame comes over and smiles at me. "Who's your friend?" She asks playing her part. "Ame this is Grayson, Grayson this is Ame. Grayson owns the club." Ame smiles " It is a pleasure to meet you. You have a very nice place here."

"Thank you, well I have to go see what trouble Layne is getting into. It was nice meeting you Ame. I hope you will come back again. Rain, would you want to come back tomorrow so I could show you the whole club?" Ame looks kind of pissed that he would like to see me again and just dismissed her like that. "Yes that would be nice."

"Great then I'll be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Good bye ladies." And with that he is on his way to find Layne.

Ame walks away, well more like stomps away. I run to catch up with her. She is pissed. Shes not use to somebody not falling for her on sight. She must feel like I am her competition for this instead of her partner.

"Ame wait!" I yell trying to catch up. She stops and turns to me. "Hurry up! Why are you so slow!?" She yells back. We are now half way home and it is still freezing outside. "Why are you so mad at me?" I ask hoping we can fix the problem.

"I'm mad at you I am mad at that stupid vampire." She stated venomously. She sighed and continued. "I just can't believe he dismissed me like I wasn't worth his time. Things would just be so much easier if it was me having to do this and not you. I am the better fighter and yes you are a better actor but this job is my life and to you it's just something you have to do. You could really get hurt if something goes wrong." I nod showing her that I understand.

"You are a better fighter than I am but your hate for his species you could only hide for a short amount of time and with you knowing you are a great fighter you might not take the time for the plan to fully work itself out. It might be easier with it being me because you'll be able to come in when it is the right time and fight him. Like you said earlier tonight he is very powerful so the only way we will be able to win is with a surprise attack. It will be easy for me to not carry a big weapon and you jump in and shock him giving you enough time to kill him before he can use all his powers. This just might work for the best." She looked thoughtful for a couple seconds before continuing to walk. "Your probably right."

It was a short walk from there to the apartment. When we got there we both took turns in the bathroom taking showers and getting ready for bed.

We both lay down for awhile just thinking. Ame rolls over to look at me. "Are you sure you can handle this? He is the most powerful vampire we have ever had a job with. This job may last a long long time, and I'm not talking about just a month. I am talking about six or more months. You will have to do more than just be his friend. Did you think about that? You'll have to kiss him and get close to him, which in itself is dangerous. Can you handle that?"

"Yes, I can handle that. I know what I have to do and I know I can do it. I also realized it would take awhile to gain his trust. Ame, I know what I'm doing."

She nods. "You better be. I can't be with you all the time. I wont be able to help fight him if he finds out, because I wont even be in the same building. There is a chance he will find out because we will still have to do more jobs. We wont do as many as we normally do but we will be doing some."

"I know Ame. Now no more talk I have to get some sleep, I have classes." And with that we both turned over and went to sleep.

I wake up and notice Ame looking at me. "What?" I ask a little annoyed that she is staring at me like that. "Do you really think college is important anymore? I mean we already have good paying jobs, and we are set for life with the money we have already made. What more could you ask for?"

She has a point but to college is more than just college, it's the only thing that is the same in my life since I became a hunter. I don't know if I am ready to give up on everything and completely transform my life into the hunter I am. There is no way Ame would ever understand that. "We have to keep up appearances. We have to stay in college. Well at least one of us do. If you want to quit you can quit, I'll stay." I look up at her not looking directly in the eye, hoping she falls for it.

"I guess you are right, but it's not fair to you. I really want to quit, i can't stand being there anymore. I have everything I want here."

"Don't worry about me Ame, I really don't mind staying." I try to convince her. She looks up at me and shakes her head in agreement. "I'll take care of it today." She says ending our conversation and heading towards the bathroom.

About an hour later we were out the door heading for the college. "I know that it is close but we could still take the car. I don't know why you always insist on walking." Ame grumbles.

"Hey Rain!" I turn around to see Ryker running towards us. "Hey Ryker, this is my friend Ame." They shake hands and Ame turns to me. "I have never seen you with him, so I assume you are not good friends." she analyzes. "No actually we bumped into each other the other day, and found out we live in the same apartment building." Ryker says smiling at me. "Oh you do? I am surprised I haven't seen you then. Rain and I share an apartment and I thought I knew everyone in the building."

"That is probably because I normally live with my friend who own's a club around here but for now I am staying at the apartment with my other friend Mason. You probably know him."

Ame nods "Yes I know him. I think he dated my friend awhile back. I think that was a short one though, maybe lasted for a week tops." Madelynn use to date him. Neither one of them are the faithful, long lasting type.

Ryker chuckles. "Knowing Mason it probably didn't last very long. He is not a one women guy. I don't think he will ever settle down. He could be your best friend but he will never be your boyfriend. When he says date he means taking you out a couple times then never calling you back, but girls always think he means something long term." He ends shaking his head.

We are almost to the college now. I have been to most of the clubs around here, I wonder what one his was living at. Maybe I can ask him if hhe wants to go to the club sometime. That would be a fun date. Dancing and drinking. It would make for an awesome night.

"You said you were living at the club with your friend. Which club was it?"

Ame's eyes widen but she quickly changes her face back to look interested. This time I don't know what she is thinking. I'll have to ask her when Ryker leaves.

"Oh, it's club Betsalel. My friend Grayson owns it. I stay there sometimes and help him run the place." He smiles. I try to put a smile on my face and breathe. It is very hard to breathe when all I can think about is how much trouble this could be. Ame looks at me and takes a short breathe, signaling me too breathe. This must have been what she was thinking earlier. "It is a really great place maybe you would like me to show you around it sometime?"

"Ame and I were there last night. It is a really nice place. I met your friend Grayson and his sister Layne. They both seem very nice. Oh well I guess we are here I better hurry to class. Ame will you be home for lunch?" I signal to Ame that we need to talk. "Yes I will be there. It was nice meeting you Ryker but I have to get out and I want to do it before the place gets to crowded." And with that she hurries to the main building. "Will you be at the club tonight?" Ryker asks quickly. "Uh well it depends on if Ame wants to go. Well got to go bye!" I quickly walk away to my class.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day I tried to avoid running into Ryker. Ame and I went home for lunch and talked about Ryker. I skipped the rest of my classes.

"So let's gather our thoughts about Ryker." Ame stated firmly. "Well I think if he is friends with Grayson he may be a good link. I also think I am incredibly stupid for not knowing he was a vampire! I mean I am a vampire hunter I should know what a vampire looks like even with his control on. I'm so stupid!" I refuse to tell her that I thought he could be the only guy around here I could potentially like. Yup I think I'll just keep that bit of information to myself.

"Rain you are not stupid. If he is Grayson's friend he could be just as powerful. For now I think we should use him to get close to Grayson. There may be a problem with this though, I think they both like you. But this could also be a good thing. We can use it to our advantage; get them to fight over you. They will have to expose themselves to you. That way you can know and have them trust you with knowing, without them finding out that you know because you're a hunter." She smiles deviously, determined to have this mission go smoothly.

I don't know about all this. It's more of a job than I thought it would be. Well I guess the boss' are getting what they paid for. I just hope the price isn't our lives.

"Do you think we should talk to Evangeline or Maya about this?" I ask knowing it would be good to get their advice but hoping she says no.

"No. We can handle this. I don't need help. This mission was for us not the group. This is our chance to prove ourselves. Don't you see Rain?" I see that this is really important to her, even if I don't see why proving ourselves anymore matters; I will do this for her. That's what I have always done; keep doing this for her even if I don't really want any part of this life.

"Yeah, Ame I see." I look up into her wanting eyes knowing that being the best at this is what she is going to work at even if it kills her, or me.

I spent the rest of the day in our room pretending to read. I stared at a page in my book for hours thinking about my life and what is going to happen. Ame went out to the mall with Trinity and spent the day shopping for more hunting clothes and stopping off and our weapon makers meeting spot to get something Ame has been wanting for awhile. She said it was a surprise and she is getting me one too. It is her little present to me for letting her quit college. I already feel guilty and I haven't even gotten the present yet! Knowing Ame it is some sort of weapon; one that would completely blow your mind.

The last time she bought me a weapon, it was a long silver bladed sword with a black handle and beautiful designs painted all over it. I have never taken that sword on a mission. Silver doesn't hurt vampires long enough. Wood is the only weapon that will seriously hurt a vampire. She told me she knew it wouldn't help on a mission but it would protect me if I were to stay alone, meaning if someone human tried to kill me.

I set my book down and get off the bed. Ame should be home soon. I walk to the kitchen and check on the chicken I have cooking in the oven. It looks about done so I leave it in for a couple minutes more and quickly make some corn and potatoes.

The door opens and Ame comes in with both arms full of bags. I don't mean your average shopping bags either. They were bags of all different shapes and sizes.

She lays them on the couch and comes over to the kitchen and helps me set the table. "I'll show you what I got after we eat! You will love it! I got some other things for our big mission too. I may have gone a little crazy but you will love everything. Now let's eat!"

We sit down and eat our dinner. I try to make more home cooked means when I have time. I was raised on big country meals. I guess it is one of those things that helps keep me in my past, before all of this.

When we finish we clean our dishes and walk out to the couch where Ame left all the bags. I sit on the chair next to the couch and Ame cleans a spot on the couch off next to me. She picks up a long narrow black bag and holds it out for me. I take it and look inside. It is obviously a sword inside this long black case made of leather. I pull the case out and open it. "Isn't it amazing? It is all wood, it's oak. Oak has one of the greatest resistances to pressure, tearing, and rupturing." She states matter of factly. "Do you like it?" she asks with a hopeful smile.

"I love it! The engravings are beautiful!" I exclaim happily. The leather case has a beautiful prayer for courage etched on the inside. It went:

**God grant that I might have**

**The courage to change the things I can,The serenity to accept the things I cannot,And the wisdom to know the difference**

(By Reinhold Neibuhr)

Engraved on the wooden sword is beauty on one side and strength on the other.

It was beautiful and it would be put to good use. "Thank you so much it's so beautiful! Where did you get it?" I didn't think our sword makers made wooden swords. She must have gotten them from someone else.

"Well I know a guy who makes weapons. He isn't really working for our group. He is just a friend of mine that can come in kind of handy when our weapon makers are to busy making everyone else's weapons. My friend doesn't work for anyone else. It is just a hobby of his. Don't worry about him though he is on our side."

"Oh no I didn't mean I didn't trust him. I trust your judgment. I was just wondering how you keep getting these beautiful weapons. I know the weapon makers that work for us don't do anything like this."

She laughs, "No they don't. Well let's look at the rest of the wonderful things I got. I know you will love them."

She pulls a small bag off the couch and hands it to me. Inside the bag is a small dagger made of silver, the cap over the blade is made off wood. "The silver is for the guards some vampires have. The wooden cap is made to be a blade over a blade, I guess you could say."

Werewolves' make great guards. Their hearing is good, though not as good as a vampires, and their sense of smell is far better than anything else.

I place the dagger next to the sword; they will both have to go to our bedroom to be put with the rest of the weapons. Ame pulls out another small dagger like the one I just put aside. "One for you and one for me." She smiles and pulls out a small bag. She pulls out what looks like a small jewelry case for a bracelet or necklace. She hands me the case. I open it up and see beautifully crafted wooden hair pins.

"You stick them through the middle of your bun or pony tail. It has a sharp point on one end. They don't clip to your hair they just get placed in there. You can pull them out quickly and use them as a weapon. An everyday fashion accessory except yours has a point." Ame smirks and closes the case and sets it back in the bag. Next she pulls out a curved knife made of wood. It looks kind of like a large claw with a handle.

"I figure we don't have very many wooden weapons so I had my friend make everything from oak." She shrugs and hands the knife to me. "I also had him make a double of everything." She smiles and pulls an identical one out and puts it in her pile.

Next she brings up a big bag. "This I didn't get from my friend." She smiles and pulls out a short dark purple dress with black lace. Then she pulls out a pair of black high heels. "This is for when we go to the club tonight. And this" she pulls out a light blue dress and matching heels "is for when he takes you out on your first date."

"Ame what if he doesn't want to date me?"

She shrugs "Oh don't worry if this doesn't work then we go to plan B. Ryker likes you already, I can tell. You can get close enough to Grayson through Ryker. Always have a fall back plan. I really wish you didn't have to do this." She sighs, still worried about me.

"Don't worry, I can do this, I know I can!" I confidently reply. She smiles and grabs another bag. "Well with all the shopping and planning I have done I am sure you can." She says taking out a cute black mini skirt and a light pink strapless top. Then she pulls out a pair of silver heels to match the outfit. She hands them to me and I set them aside next to my pile.

We continued this for the next hour until every bag was emptied of clothes, shoes, jewelry, and weapons. She got a variety of clothes to go with anything he may ask me to accompany him to. From cute jeans and Tee shirts to long silky dresses. Every outfit has a pair of shoes to match.

Like Ame said before, we have a lot of extra money. I am surprised she hasn't had us moved to a mansion. I know Evangeline would never allow that though. It would make us stand out.

I think Ame's dream is to take over Evangeline's position. I think Ame has the skills to do it, but Evangeline is more cautious and has a lot more experience. That would be a tough match. What Ame lacks Evangeline excels in and vise-versa. But that kind of match ends in death to one of the opponents, so I hope Ame never takes it that far.

We get ready to go to the club. I am wearing the short dark purple dress with black lace and the black heels that match the outfit. Ame decided that it is to early to bring the wooden knives or daggers, so I have on my wooden hair pin and a steel dagger in my purse.

I decided to bring the steel dagger in my purse instead of on me because if it was found in my purse it would seem like it is just for protection for a weak college girl and not protection for a hunter. I know steel doesn't hurt vampires much but it does hurt drunken people who try to hurt you. I have learned a lot from this job and one of the things I learned is, always be prepared.

Ame comes in wearing a stunning, short, low cut, sleeveless black dress with matching black heels. "Ready to go? I plan on meeting Layne tonight. I may be able to get close to Grayson through his little sister. They have a really close bond and he is always near her. If I get in with her I can be close to you if I'm needed." She smiles confidently and heads for the door. I quickly get up and follow her out.

We get outside and Ame has her silver with blue stripes, Ford Shelby GT500 parked next to the apartment. "I thought we could ride this time, these heels will kill my feet." We get in and a short time later we are pulling up to the club.

We get out and make our way to the long line of people waiting to get inside. It seems like the line will never end and we are last in line. I wonder if we will ever get in. Seconds later Layne emerges from the club door coming down the long line smiling and looking straight at me. She comes over to me. "You don't have to wait in this long line. Grayson is waiting for you inside, though he won't admit it." She giggles.

"Thanks I didn't think we would ever see the front of this line. This is my friend Ame, Ame this is Layne." I introduce Ame, putting her plan into action. Ame steps forward and shakes Layne's hand. "Nice to meet you Layne." Ame says through her dazzling smile. Layne smiles back and shakes Ame's hand. "Nice to meet you too! Well it is kind of cold out here so what do you say we go inside?" Ame and I nod and follow her past the long line of people and up to the guard blocking the door. "Hey John these are friends of ours. This is Ame and Rain. Between you and me, Grayson has a little crush on this one." She says pointing to me. The guard "John" smiles and opens the door for the three of us.

We follow Layne over to Grayson. He smiles brightly and leads us to a VIP room near the bar. "I'm glad you came Rain. And it is nice to see your friend as well." He says sitting down on an expensive couch. Layne sits down on a couch opposite him and Ame sits next to her, leaving the only set open next to Grayson. I sit next to him and smile. "It's nice to see you too."

"I am glad you're here too. Grayson has talked about nothing but you since you left. I was getting tired!" Layne chimes in. He shoots her a death glare and avoids looking at me. "Well don't feel bad Layne. Rain wouldn't stop bugging me about coming here tonight. I finally had to give in!" Ame exclaims playing her part. And embarrassing me. Even though it is untrue, I can't help but blush and look away from him.

He turns to me and smiles. Getting closer as I blush deeper. "Well I am glad you came." he purrs gently against my ear, wrapping his arm around my waist. I look up at Ame who looks calm, but I can tell she is using all her power to keep from killing him. Her eyes don't lie. I look over at Layne who also looks nervous.

"Rain!" Grayson jumps back looking like he just got an electrical shock. "It's nice seeing you here. I didn't know you knew my friend Grayson." Ryker interrupts to every ones relief. "Oh we just met last night. He invited us to come again tonight." I say, not knowing what to do. I look over at Ame and smile. She smiles back. "Well I was promised I would get to dance if I came so Rain lets go dance. You know this is my song." Ame chimes in. I take a mental note to remember this song, this isn't her song but if she says it is then it has to be for this mission.

"Alright let's dance!" I say getting up and following Ame out the doorway. We walk to the side of the dance floor and begin to dance. "Am I suppose to like Grayson or Ryker?" I whisper to Ame getting closer so no one hears. With the music as loud as it is I doubt anyone could hear. "Stick with Grayson. Be close friends with Ryker." I nod and continue dancing with her until the song is over.

"Go back to them, I'll stay here." I nod back at Ame and make my way back to the room. When I get to the door way Ryker and Grayson are in a heated discussion. Layne looks up at me and smirks. "Only been here for a couple minutes and have already caused trouble, my kind of girl. Where is your friend?" She says coming over to me. Both guys immediately stop talking. "I don't mean to cause trouble. Ame is still dancing." I say as she passes me and exits the room. "So what kind of trouble am I causing?" I ask walking towards them. I sit between them and Grayson turns toward me. "Nothing to worry about Rain. We have settled it. No problem anymore." Grayson say staring hard at Ryker. Ryker gets up. "Well nice seeing you Rain." he says starting to walk out the door. He stops then looks back to me. "Walk with me to class tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure we can meet at the gate in front of the apartments." I smile up at him. He smiles a pure evil smile at Grayson who muffles a growl with a cough. Ryker turns back around and leaves. I turn back to Grayson and look innocently back up at him. "So what were you fighting about?" I scoot closer to him and give him my full attention.

"You." he smiles down at me. "What about me?" I smile back at him and lay my legs on his lap comfortably. "Well between you and me." He says leaning closer to me. I nod and lean closer. "He wants to get closer to you, but so do I. I don't share and I want you all to myself. If you would ever give me that chance." He finishes looking softly into my eyes. "Are you asking me something?" I ask innocently hoping this will hurry the mission along.

"Maybe. That all depends on what you would say." He looks down shielding his eyes, waiting for me to deny him. All the attitude from the fight with Ryker gone, now looking shy. I would think he was like every other nice guy if I didn't know of his power and how he obtains it. If I didn't know his meal for tonight could have very likely been an innocent woman or teenager. But for this mission I have to put all this aside and make my move.

Leaning closer to him "my answer would be yes" I kiss him and he runs his fingers down my neck slowly, feeling my pulse. To my astonishment it feels pleasurable and it makes me hunger for more. He pulls me closer deepening the kiss making me feel ablaze, on fire, dizzy, and needing more. The music and people outside the room forgotten. That is until I hear someone clearing their throat. I pull away from him slowly still dizzy. Looking back at Grayson I see he seems to be just and dizzy and light headed. Then I look back over at the doorway to find out who interrupted us. Layne and Ame are standing at the door with smirks on their faces.

"Can't leave you two alone for one dance and you're all over each other. Did he keep off you long enough to ask you to go to a party with us? I have invited your friend Ame here. We decided we have a few things in common and we are going to have fun with it." Layne says making it obvious the "few things" are Grayson and I. "No we were talking about, well it doesn't matter to you I guess." I say making them want to know more. Just a little fun and games. "I think we want to know. I also want to invite you to the party since my brother didn't invite you."

"Well Layne I would have invited her if you would have given me some time. She is my girlfriend after all." He says proudly. Ame and Layne squeal excitedly.

"I'd love to find out more and it is time for us to get going so Rain will have to tell me all about it on the way out. And Layne I want the story from both sides and I imagine you do too." Ame motions for me to get moving. I walk over to her telling Grayson good bye.

We get into her car and pull away. "So I have the in with Layne thanks to you. And I see you have definitely progressed with Grayson. But what I don't know is what happened when you got back. What happened with Ryker?"

"When I got in they were fighting and Layne was watching it all. She told me that I have only been here for a little while and have already started trouble. Or something like that. So I know they were fighting about me. When Layne left I asked them what they were fighting about and they told me it was nothing. Grayson was really possessive of me and Ryker asked me if I wanted to walk to school with him tomorrow and I said yes. So we are walking with him tomorrow. Then when Ryker left I asked Grayson why what they were fighting about and he told me it was because he liked me and then he kind of asked me to be his girlfriend and we kissed and then you and Layne came in." I said fast dumping everything out, wanting to get everything out of me except for the shock from the kiss.

I don't think I will tell anyone about that until I know what it means. I don't like hiding things from Ame but I know she wouldn't understand this. She would blame herself for everything, and it isn't her fault. She already hates the idea of me doing this and not her. That is why she had to have the in with Layne.

"Well Rain I think you may be a better actor than I thought. I guess I shouldn't have doubted you so much. But this still doesn't mean that I am just going to let you do this all by yourself." She says parking the car.

We walk quickly back to the apartments. When we walk in Ame turns to me. "Rain how open would you be to getting a house instead of living here. I mean I know this is a nice apartment but there are some dangers to it and with this new mission it just makes me think more. We could easily get caught and unlike most of the hunters here we are on a very important mission a lot more dangerous than before. Evangeline and Maya have already had their apartment trashed by a Vampire. Do you really want to be next? It could mess up the whole mission and could cost us our lives. And what if one of the lower hunters get caught and instead of the vampire killing them they make them give names and rooms and other dangerous information. I am not willing to risk my life on clueless hunters or anyone else who may be a threat. Which is why I think the sensible thing is to get a house." Ame suggests.

"But I thought we were suppose to stay together, with the other hunters. I thought it was safer. We can't all move into a big house and not look suspicious. That's why we all live in the apartment complex. We can't just leave them. I don't know Ame. I think we should talk to Maya and Evangeline first." I trust her but I still think we should talk to Evangeline and Maya.

"Why do we always have to run things by Evangeline and Maya? Are we not good enough to make our own decisions?" Ame says getting angrier by the minute. "It's just that it would affect them too." I say trying to reason with her. "Fine. I'll talk to them tomorrow when you are in class." She sighs and goes to the bathroom, taking her shoes off on the way.

Sleeping was hard tonight. When we got ready for bed, Ame went straight to sleep. But I couldn't fall asleep. I have to many things running through my head like, Grayson, Ryker, and Ame wanting to move.

Waking up in the morning was even harder. Ame wanted to walk with me out to meet Ryker. So that's what we did. Like he said he was waiting for me. "Hey Rain, Ame. Ready to go Rain? I thought you dropped out Ame?"

"She's ready, I was just walking her out here and heading out to get my car. Rain and I were thinking about moving into a house and getting out of these crowded apartments."

"Actually Ame was thinking about it and I didn't know until last night. But I do have to agree with her it would be nice to live in a house and have a place that is really mine. Well ours. But I am over it so lets go. Ill be back at noon Ame, so talk to Evangeline Before I come back or if you want me to be there plan it for that time."

"I will. I will also be looking for houses too. See you later."

We walk our separate ways and Ryker follows me. "So um are you and Grayson, you know, together?" He asks awkwardly. I blush and tell him "Yes he asked me last night. Why were you fighting with him?"

"Doesn't matter I am sure he will tell you." He replies moodily. We walk the rest of the way in silence. "Ryker" He turn back to me waiting for me to continue. I look down and blush feeling stupid. "Are we friends? Because I really want to be your friend." I am shocked at how sincere that really was. I want to be friends with a vampire. What has the world come to.

He walks back over to me. "Yes Rain, I think we are friends." I look back up at him smiling. "Good!" I say excitedly. He chuckles softly. "Yes, I will see you tomorrow." He says and walks away to his class. I hurry to mine.

This will be my last year in college. I am excited but at the same time I am scared. I will lose the thing that keeps me normal. I wont have to get a job because I already have a high paying one. I really want to be a teacher though. Maybe someday that will happen, but it wont be anytime soon.

As always class went by slowly. I practically ran out when the bell rang. I start walking back to the apartments when Ame pulls up next to me in her car. "Get in we are going to go look at a house." I run over to the passenger side and get in. Ame speeds down the road.

"I talked to Evangeline and she doesn't like it but she said she can understand. She also said that she would talk to the bosses and she just called me and told me that they said if we are going to get a house we have to get a big one. The bosses will pay for it and pay the bills but it has to be used for when other hunters are in dangerous jobs as well. So it wont be just our house. It will kind of be like a hide out for other hunters. So it wont be completely safe for us but it will get us away from the beginner hunters who will put us in more danger. Only advanced hunters can know about the house. No guest allowed. We are also being put on a semi mission. Its not a vampire hunt, we just have to protect the advanced hunters who are in danger with their missions. This mission will last as long as we live in this house." Ame Explains determined to take this new mission.

"Ame I thought we were suppose to get a house for us that would be our safe house. Not a safe house for all advanced hunters." I say not liking the idea.

"Well it wont be like we are living with a bunch of hunters. They will still live in the apartments. We will just bring in advanced hunters that are in danger because of a mission gone wrong. But they will only stay until their target is killed then they will be back in the apartment. And this is a good paying deal. Everything will be fine you will see." She says optimistically which is very odd for Ame. This must be really important to her.

"Alright Ame but we are only doing this until I graduate then if this mission is not what we expected we have to get our own house. I'm not staying in a place I hate."

Ame smiles "This is the first house we are checking out. The realtor should be here soon." She says pulling onto a very long curvy driveway that seems to go on forever. The driveway is surrounded by trees. It looks like we are in the middle of a forest. Which all leads down to the biggest house I have ever seen. It's made of stone and it looks old and elegant, it is very beautiful. It has fountains and flowers around the large stairs leading up to the large mahogany doors.

We get out and Ame walks over to the realtor and I walk around the house. The back yard is huge. It is a large garden leading off into a wall of trees that is the forest. I decide to walk to the garden through all the pretty flowers. The garden is breath taking it is so beautiful. I follow the path to the forest, which seems to be drawing me towards it. It is so warm and inviting.

"Rain! Come on we are going in the house." Ame calls from the side of the house. I turn around and start walking back to the house through the garden.

I quickly catch back up to Ame and we meet the realtor at the door. She is a cold mean looking woman who seems to look down on us. She unlocks the door and walks through not waiting for us. We quickly follow her in.

The first thing I see is the large staircase. "Over to your left is a hall, all the doors are to closets except the last one which is a bathroom. To the right is the dining room which leads to the kitchen which leads to the pantry. In front you will see the living room. The stairs lead up to the next floor which mostly consists of bedrooms. I don't know much about this house but you can look it over for yourselves I'll wait in my car. I have to fill out a couple forms. Just come out and get me when you are ready to leave."

And with that said she quickly walks away out the door. "I want to check out the upstairs! We can split up and meet back here later." Ame says excitedly and starts for the stairs. I on the other hand walk to the dining room. It's huge, the table must fit at least 20 people! It is a dark wood with a deep red satin table cloth on it. In the back is a door which I go through. It opens to a hall that leads to the kitchen. The kitchen has huge appliances. This room was made to fit the entire kitchen staff. In the back of this room there is again another door. It leads to the pantry which is full of empty shelves. There is a rug in the middle of the floor that just doesn't seem to fit the house. It's not very clean ad the edges look frayed. I walk over to it and pull the rug off to side of the room. There is a square cut into the wooden floor. It has a metal loop imbedded into it. I pull the loop up, pulling the square piece of floor up with it. It opens to a staircase that looks very old.

I sit the piece of floor off to the side and look down into the dark stairway. I decide it's probably best to get Ame first. I run back through the kitchen and the dining room and up the stairs leading to the second floor. "Ame! Ame! Where are you?" I yell through the hall with what seems to be a hundred doors, not knowing where she is.

"Rain, what's wrong?" Ame says coming out of a door near me. "Do you have a flash light or lighter?" I ask quickly. She looks at me oddly. "Why do you ask?"

I grab her hand and run down the stairs and make my way back to the pantry. "Look!" I say pointing toward the dark staircase. "Well she didn't say anything about a basement! Let's take a look." She says walking down the dark narrow stairway. She flicks the light switch on the wall and the stairway lights up. I follow Ame down the long stairs. They lead to a hall which opens up into a very large library. All the books look old and dusty. The middle of the room has 2 leather couches and 2 big leather chairs around a dark wooden table which also looks very old.

"I think we should go back up and talk to the realtor." Ame says walking back over to the stairs, obviously not interested in this room. "She is going to take us to a couple other houses today. And don't forget we have to meet Grayson and Layne at the club tonight so we can find out more about the party." She says leading me back up the stairs.

We get to the top and put the floor back in place and pull the rug back over top of it. We walk back to the realtor's car. "Are you ready for the next house?" She asks getting out of the car. We both nod and walk back to Ame's car while the realtor locks the house back up. We wait and Ame follows the realtor back down the driveway.

Leaving the house I feel the desire to go back. I want to explore this house a lot more.


	3. Chapter 3

We follow the realtor to the next house. It is a large house but not as big as the last one. It looks more modern. This house, unlike the last, is surrounded by open field. It is very warm and bright.

"Oh Rain, I love it! Don't you? It is so cute and inviting." Ame squeals coming up to a stop in front of the house. We get out and walk up to the porch. The whole front of the house has a large porch with a swing and rocking chairs on it.

"Well I'll show you the inside. This house just went up on the market. It was owned by an elderly couple who passed away. They had their son's family here taking care of them. It is well taken care of I assure you." the realtor says opening the front door.

"To your right you will see the kitchen and to your left you will see the living room. Through the kitchen you will find the dining room. Up the stairs you will see the bedrooms, there are about 6."

These stairs are nothing like the grand staircase at the other house they are thin and long and off to the side next to the wall. This house seems very lived in.

"If you would like I will take you upstairs and show you the rooms." The realtor says seeming nicer now than she did at the other house.

"That would be nice thank you." Ame says politely.

"What house out of the two that we looked at would you recommend?" I ask already knowing the answer.

"Oh this one. It's more bright and homey, unlike the other one which is dark and unwelcoming." She answers like I knew she would. I happen to like the other house more for some reason. I just can't help but feel like going back and exploring. The house is just a big mystery. But I can tell that Ame likes this house more.

The realtor took us through the house, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was still thinking about the other house. I mindlessly followed them around the house. That is until I head a phone going off.

"Oh hold on it's me." The realtor says taking out her cell. "Yes that is my next stop." She pauses listening to the person on the other end. "Oh well thank you. I shall be back shortly then." She says then puts the phone back into her purse.

"Well it seems we sold the house that we were supposed to go to next. So I guess we can schedule another appointment for when you would like to meet again to go over costs and other things you will need to know about the houses."

"Yes, we have to agree upon which house we want. Price is of no importance to us. We will be having someone meet with you to pay for the house." Ame states walking out the door. I follow them out. "Thank you for your time. We will call you with our decision and you will have your money shortly." Ame finishes getting into her car. I hop into the passenger seat and wait till we are on the road before I speak up.

"Ame, I want the first one." I say looking at her. She seems shocked and looks at me for a couple seconds before turning back to the road. "Why would you want that house?" She asks clearly confused.

"Well Ame I can't really explain it, but if we are going to have to move into a safe house I want it to be that one. I really don't want to do this stupid mission and I wont do it unless it in that house. I can't help but want to go back. I want that house to be mine. I can't explain why."

"Well Rain if you want to live there so bad that will be our house. Though the second house seemed, to me, to be more your type. It is more bright and happy looking."

"Thanks Ame! I can't wait to move in!" I smile very excited to further explore my house of mystery. We get back the apartments and call Evangeline who calls the bosses. They have set up an appointment with the realtor and we should have our house soon. Much to my liking. I just can't wait to see if there are other hidden rooms!

The problem with moving to this new house is, for the mission I have to be friends with Ryker and the only time I see him is when we walk together to class. I guess I will just have to get him and Grayson to not fight over me and get Ryker to go to the club again. I have my work cut out for me. This isn't going to be easy.

"We should get some rest. We have to go to the club tonight and get the information for that party. You should also tell Grayson that we are moving." She says walking towards our bed room. I follow her in and plop down on my bed. "Yeah, I'll have to tell him. I will have to talk to Ryker about it tomorrow too." She nods and closes her eyes drifting off to sleep. Not long after I fall into the dark oblivion that is sleep.

"Get up; come on Rain we have to get ready." I wake up to Ame shaking me. "Alright alright, I'm up!" I grumble crawling out of bed. I stumble to the bathroom and take a shower. The warm water running down my body and the warm air surrounding me wakes me up. I step out of the shower and dry myself off. The room is warm and full of steam. I walk over to the sink and wipe the stream off the mirror. I brush my hair and dry it again with the towel, deciding to just let it air dry. I walk out of the bathroom and the cold air immediately hits my once warm body, leaving me covered in goose bumps. I wrap the towel tighter against my body trying to keep in the heat.

"Ame, which outfit should I wear tonight?" I ask going through my closet. "How about that tight, little, dark pink dress? It's sexy and I know Grayson will love it. It hugs all your curves and it has a low v-neck. It has the spaghetti straps to show off more of your softly tanned skin. You would look amazing!" She is right. I look great in pink, just like she looks great is black.

"Thanks!" I yell back picking out the dress and some pink heels to match. I lay them on the bed and put on my bra and underwear. I make my way back to the bathroom. I straighten my hair and put on my make up. Black mascara and eyeliner, pink eye shadow, and clear lip gloss.

Satisfied with how I look I go back to my room and put my dress and heels on. Ame comes out in her short, tight, dark purple dress and black heels. Her curly black hair cascading down her back.

"How do I look?" She asks checking herself out in the mirror.

"Dressed to kill. Ready to go?"

"Not yet." She pulls out a silver necklace with a pink wooden heart hanging from it. The tip of the heart looking very sharp. She puts the necklace on my and puts a matching black one on herself. "Now we are ready." She smiles and grabs her keys. I follow her out to her car and in a short while we are driving to the club.

"So tonight you have to get more information out of him. And you should tell him we are moving." I nod agreeing with her. "Yeah, that's the plan."

We pull up to the club and get out. Ame looks at the line and heads right for the door. I hurry to catch up.

"Hey John, Grayson here tonight?" Ame asks casually. "Yes he should be in the VIP room with Layne." He says smiling and lets us in. We walk in and Ame grabs my hand leading us through the crowd to the VIP room. She knocks on the door and Layne appears opening the door.

"Hey! Grayson, look who's here." She says letting us in. The room is glowing; the only light is the candles spread out through the room. Grayson is laid out on the couch with his eyes closed. He turns his head towards us and opens his eyes. "Hey Rain having a good night?" he smiles and slowly sits up.

"Yes, you seem tired. Do you want us to leave so you can get some rest?" I ask concerned.

"No, please stay. You look very nice. Come sit with me, please?" He says with a soft smile, patting the couch next to him.

I roll my eyes smiling and sit by him. "He hasn't had much sleep for awhile." Layne frowns looking at him. I turn and look at him frowning. "Do you have a place to sleep here? Can you rest now?" He looks down at me and runs his fingers along my jaw line. "Yes I do have a place to sleep here. I have a room in the back where I stay when I am to busy to go home. I don't want to go there I want to stay with you."

"I can go with you there if you want. We can take a nap. Do you want that?" I ask trying to compromise. Layne looks pleased with this suggestion. "Can you really deny that offer?"

He smiles. "No I guess I can't." He says getting up and pulling me with him. "I shall only sleep an hour, no more. Layne will keep your friend Ame company." He says nodding at Layne. He holds my hand leading me to the bedroom.

What am I doing? This is the first time I have been alone with him, and I have to go to a bedroom! I've only known him for a couple days and he has already got me to stay in his room with him.

He opens the door hidden behind a black curtain and leads me inside. The room is very dark even when he turns the bedside lamp on. The headboard on the bed is black and the blanket is strangely a creamy white silk, contrasting everything in the room. The walls of the room are a dark midnight blue and the soft, fluffy carpet is black. The only light color in the room are the blankets, the pillows are even black.

"I am moving. Well Ame and I are moving." I say filling the silence. He stops walking to the bed and turns back to me with a worried expression. "Where are you moving?" I crawl into the bed and turn to him kicking my heels off. "Not far just in the country area around here. The apartments were getting to be too small for Ame's liking. The house is really nice, and big."

He breathes a sigh of relief and climbs into the bed. The blankets reflecting the paleness of his skin. For the first time I notice how the bed is similar to him, inside and out. He is so pale and he wears such dark colors which contrast his skin nicely. He is dark in his ways, being a vampire, and yet he is so sweet and innocent sometimes. "Will you still be going to the college?" He asks rolling closer to me. "Yes, Ame isn't but I plan to finish. How about you, what do you do when you're not running this club?" I ask subtly getting useful information.

No matter how much I am starting to like him, this is still a mission and I can't let my emotions take over. If he knew what I was he wouldn't be sharing a bed with me, he would kill me. It is either I kill him or I take the chance of getting my best friend and I killed. There is no other option.

"I just go home and sleep. Nothing really. Sleep, eat, have a little time to myself or with some friends, then come here. It's just lately I have been really busy with some things and I haven't gotten as much sleep. I'll only sleep for an hour now though, I promise." He says not giving away any useful information.

"Then you should go to sleep." he nods and puts his arm around my waist. Seconds later I hear the steady breathing and light murmur of his heart beating. I lay my head against his chest and fall asleep.

I wake up to him playing with my hair, after what seems like only a minute but really an hour of sleeping. The room is still quiet and dark. No light escapes from under the door. The black carpet blocks the flashing lights from seeping through. Though the room is dark I can still see his light, snowy white skin, and the white blanket. His dark black hair blends in with the dark of the room. His luminescent face tilted down facing me.

"Have a nice nap." He slowly whispers smiling. I move my head up off his chest and lay it back on the pillow, missing the warmth from his nicely toned chest.

It is a common myth that vampires are stone cold. They are warm just like humans, unless they are starving. When they get to cold they die, not having eaten in days. Just like humans, they need to eat, or drink in their case, to survive.

"I didn't intend to fall asleep. Do you feel better?" I ask getting off the sleeping topic. I really didn't mean to fall asleep.

"Yes, but I don't want to go out there. I just want to stay right here." He says pulling my head back on his chest and playing with my hair.

"I know I don't either, but we have to. You have to get out there and look out for the club, and Layne. And I have to go see what Ame is doing." I say getting up and sitting on the bed. Not being able to see in the dark I didn't want to tempt tripping over something to find my heels. He turns on the bedside lamp for me and sits up waiting for me to get my heels on.

He opens the door and the flashing lights flood in hurting my eyes. I walk over to him and he holds my hand leading my back over to the VIP room. I walk in and notice the lights are turned on and the candles are blown out. Ame and Layne are sitting on the couch laughing. They turn to us and Layne smirks. "Have a nice nap?" Grayson smiles and pulls me to a lounge chair opposite the couch. He sits and pulls me on him. "Yes, I feel much better now. So what did you do while we were gone?" He says lazily.

"We danced a little, talked a lot. Did Rain tell you where they are moving?" Layne asks inquisitively. "No, she said they were moving but not far." Grayson asks searching her face for answers. Layne smiles mischievously. "It's a big house, very old. We searched the history of the house. The previous owners were, Dunstan Aleixo and Aminah Tsukiko." I looked to Grayson after Layne paused smirking. He looked as if he couldn't catch his breath, eyes wide in shock.

He recovered quickly after looking at my absorbing eyes. I was taking in his reaction, making a mental note to not forget what Layne said so I could figure out his reaction. I take a quick glance over at Ame and see she is doing the same.

"Well that sure is interesting." He says turning back to me. "Did you meet the previous owners?" He asks inquisitively. I look in his eyes and can tell this is more than a casual question, even though he is trying to pass it off as one.

"No, we only met the realtor. It doesn't look like the previous owners have been in there in a long time." Ame said before I had time to speak. She has figured something out that I didn't catch. "Well it was nice talking to you, but it is time to get Rain home. She has school tomorrow." Ame smiles and walks quickly to the door waiting for me to follow. I jump up off of Grayson's lap and follow her out the door. She practically runs to her car, with me trialing after her.

She jumps in the car and I quickly follow suit. "We have some more work to do before we go to sleep." She says speeding home. We run up to the apartment and quickly shut the door behind us. Without wasting any time Ame starts the computer. In no time the computer is running and Ame is typing feverishly. She reads the computer intently then she perks up and signals for me to read spots on the site. First I read

**DUNSTAN**: Anglo-Saxon name composed of the elements _dun_ "black, dark" and _stan_ "stone," hence "black stone" or "dark stone."

Then scrolling down she points to another part.

**ALEIXO**: Galician-Portuguese form of Latin Alexius, meaning "defender."

Which I remember being the Mans last name. Then again she scrolls down coming to a new section to where she points and I read.

**AMINAH**: Variant spelling of Arabic Amina, meaning "honest, trustworthy."

The woman's name. And she scrolls down again coming to the woman's last name.

**TSUKIKO** (月子): Japanese name meaning "moon child."

She sits back looking at me. "What is the Black stone? Why does it need to be protected? I assume the woman's name means trustworthy Vampire. Does this mean the man and woman are the protectors of the black stone or is the man the black stone?" I ask in complete confusion.

"There is an old legend the hunters tell. It states that a moon child fell in love with a human warrior. They professed their love for each other and she turned him. She was known by all the hunters and for a long while was chased for turning him. They also chased after him for to them he was a traitor. The woman was also chased by the other moon children for taking the black stone. The black stone is said to hold a strong power unknown to anyone. The stone will not let out the power unless the destined moon child invokes it. The vampires kept the Black stone safe waiting for that one moon child to be born or made. This is why the vampires were after the woman. They think she may have the power and if she doesn't have the power they need to get it back so the rightful moon child can call upon its powers. The stone has to be in the moon child's possession to evoke the power. The woman and warrior ran away together to protect each other and the stone. They were hidden for a long time, until one night a hunter found them. The warrior told the hunter of their love and their diet. They never drank human blood. The hunter finally after a long night saw the truth in their story and went back to the other hunters telling them of his discovery and convincing them to stop hunting the warrior and the moon child. He told the hunters about the black stone and all the hunters agreed to protect the warrior and woman. It is also said the all hunters must protect the stone and the lovers." Ame told the story of the trustworthy moon child and her warrior lover, solemnly.

"Do you think the stone is still in the house? Where do you think the lovers are?" I asked Ame, a million questions buzzing through my head making me slightly dizzy. Ame looked at me determinedly. "I don't know where they are but I know they have the stone. I know that we must find them before Grayson and Layne do. The Vampires cannot get that stone back."

The mission has just gotten harder, much, much harder. There is a lot at stake if we don't succeed. By the look on Ame's face we are doing this alone. No Evangeline, no Maya, no other hunters. I don't like this at all.

"Ame how do you know they will need our help? How do you know that Grayson and his vampires will find them? They must be in hiding my now. And if we go after them we could get them caught." I asked trying to get out of this.

"Rain we don't know but all we do know is that now Grayson and Layne know they were near. They won't stop until they find that stone. We can't take the chance of not going after the lovers. After all we are the ones that just put them in more danger." I sighed in defeat. "Alright, but how are we going to look for them we don't even know the direction they are headed? And I have school. I am not quitting."

"Once we get into the house we can search for clues. The bosses promised us the house alone until this mission with Grayson is over. So we won't be in danger from other hunters being exposed. So that will give us space and time. You don't have to quit school. If you haven't noticed the date lately your semester ends this coming weekend. We can finish this mission and you will have that long break. You won't be missing anything." Ame smiled confidently.

She gets up and heads to the bathroom taking her shoes off on the way and leaving them thrown on the couch. "We should get some rest. I am going to take my shower now. We have packing to do in the morning." She says then closes the door. I go to my room and change into my night gown deciding to take my shower in the morning. I fall asleep listening to the heavy beat of the shower water hitting the floor of the tub.

I wake up to the annoying beeping of the alarm clock. Ame swats at it and silence fills the room. I drag myself out of bed and into the shower. The warm water always wakes me up. I get out and get dressed. Walking back out to the bedroom I notice Ame up and getting out a bunch of totes and boxes.

"Start packing." She grumbles not fully woken up yet. I grabbed a tote and headed for the closet. This is not your everyday closet with clothes hanging up nicely, spaced out and organized by outfits. Not even close. Ame shops way too much to have even have enough room to fit all the clothes on the rack. Half the clothes are packed together on hangers and the rest are folded up into piles lining the closet wall. The closet only consists of clothes, no shoes, nor anything else, just clothes. Oh but that isn't all the clothes, no not even close. The rest of the clothes are in the two dressers we have on opposite ends of the room.

Ame is boxing up all the clothes in her dresser and I am working on the closet. I start from the bottom up. Picking up arm loads of folded clothes and stuffing them into the tote. Then about 15 minutes later I start picking the clothes off the hangers and folding them up and putting them into the totes. And you can't just leave all the hangers in there, so I put those in a box next to the totes filled with numerous amounts of clothes.

Ame finishes her dresser after a half hour of work then goes to my dresser to start the process all over again. I finish the closet and carry the totes and boxes out to the living room by the door. I make my way back to the room and bring the totes and boxes Ame has packed full out and set them with the totes and boxes brought out previously.

"The truck should be here soon, the bosses hired some haulers to transport our things." Ame informed me, now wide awake. She turned on the radio which motivated me to work faster. I don't know why but music seems to have that power over me. I guess it does the same for Ame as well.

Ame finished my dresser and piled the totes by the door. We quickly stripped our beds of sheets, blankets, and pillows, throwing everything in totes. We set the totes aside and pulled the mattress off the bed, and leaned them against the wall. We took apart the bed frame and laid the pieces against the mattresses. All that was left in the bed area was the weapons we hid under them. We safely packed them away in boxes and took all that we have done into the living room along with the other totes and boxes.

The haulers soon came with the truck and transported our things to the house while we packed. After most of the packing was done we decided someone needed to go to the house and start unpacking. We need to get both of our cars to the house anyway so I decided I would go and Ame would meet me there when she was finished here.

I walk out to the garage excited to get to my new house. "Rain!" I head someone running towards me. I turn to see Ryker jogging over.

"Where are you headed? Looks like You are moving out." He says once he catches up with me. "I am going to the new house to start unpacking. Ame and I decided to move into a nice home. I was going to tell you, when we get all unpacked. Would you maybe want to hang out sometime after school?" I asked sheepishly and continued walking to my car not looking up at him.

"I'd love to!" He smiled exuberantly at me. "Is your boyfriend going to mind?" He asked frowning. His mood changing suddenly to annoyance.

"He doesn't own me! I can hang out with whom ever I choose." I said back heatedly, glaring at him. "If you don't understand that then I don't want to talk to you." I finish stomping away. I open the garage door and continue stomping my way over to my car.

"Rain, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just jealous. Please don't leave yet." He says with sorrow in his eyes.

"Alright, it's ok. Can we just be friends?" I ask sighing and leaning against my car. He nods his head. "Yes, yes I want to be friends. So earlier you said you wanted to hang out. Do you still want to?" He asked timidly.

"Yes! Do you have a number so I can get a hold of you when I am done packing?" I ask excitedly. He smiles down at me. "Yes. Who doesn't?" He chuckles and I hand my phone over to him so he can program his number into it. He quickly programs the number in and hands me my phone back. I get into my car and he steps out of the garage. I wave and he waves back. I click the button on the remote and the garage door glides down.

The drive there was a quick one. I pull into the long, narrow, dark, twisting driveway excited to finally be back. I pull up to the house and quickly get out and rapidly make my way to my large front door. I unlock the door and step inside only to notice and enormous piles of totes and boxes filling the entire living room. I guess it is time to start unpacking. I sigh and take a step in farther, looking around. I notice the dining room off to the right and am tempted to go to the large hidden library, but I know that I must unpack and wait for Ame.

I organize the boxes taking all the totes and boxes that hold things that should be in the kitchen to the kitchen. I do the same with the things for the dining room. I take the boxes that have shoes and coats to the hall and leave them there. I decide to go upstairs and choose my room. Ame and I haven't done that yet and I haven't even got to look at the rooms yet.

I bounce up the stairs and turn to the right, starting with the right hall first. I open the first door, and absorb the scene. The room has light purple lilac walls, creamy white carpet, a Light colored wooden dresser, a simple light colored wood framed bed with light purple lilac blankets and white pillows, and was a very nice size room. All in all it is a very nice room, but it is not the room for me. I just don't feel it. This will be a guest bedroom, and with that in mind I step back out of the room and walk to the next room across from it.

I open the door and peek in, I immediately notice the lime green walls and black carpet with a matching black painted wooden dresser and dark metal framed bed with limes green blankets and pillows. Again not the room for me.

I go threw 5 more room like the last, with different color themes. One with one with a light baby blue theme, one and midnight blue theme, one with a light yellow theme, one with a tangerine orange theme, and another with a mint green theme. None were for me.

Feeling discouraged I walked back past the stairs down the next hall. The first room I come upon was a bathroom the size of our living room back at the apartment. It was golden themed, and it was very exquisite. I see no need for that room though considering all the bedrooms have their own bathroom. I guess it is for guests.

The next room I come to looks like and office or study room, it is a dark mahogany themed room. I step to the next room and it is bright white with many large windows covering the far wall and mirrors covering the other three walls. It looked like a dance studio. The next room I come to is a small library that doesn't even compare to the one below.

All the rooms are very large, nothing like the ones in the apartment. I am already loving this house. It is just too bad I can't find a bedroom for me. I know I am being picky but in the apartment I shared a room with Ame and I have always thought that your room should express you. So far I haven't found a bedroom that was me.

I only have two rooms left to check out and if I can't find a room that is me, I will go back and pick one of those rooms and move my things in and hopefully make it me. So with that in mind I walk to the next room. This room Is breath taking. It has a mix of dark blues and dark purples with dark hard wood flooring. The bed was huge, with a dark blue blanket, dark purple silk sheets, and dark blue and dark purple pillows that look very soft and fluffy. This room had a walk in closet and next to that was a huge bathroom with colors matching the room. After fully absorbing the room I knew it would be Ame's room, it is just her.

Feeling a little discouraged that Ame now has a room and I don't I walk to the very last room across from this one. The last room, the only one left, the one I hope with be me.

I walk in and run over to the bed. This is definitely my room. It is a mixture of reds and pinks with dark hard wood flooring. It is warm and inviting. The room is set up the same as Ame's room except for the color theme. Both rooms are very beautiful.

Happy that I have my room I go back down to the living room to get the boxes and totes that hold the things that are suppose to go into my room. I bring them all up and set them in a pile in the center of the room then go back down and get all the boxes and totes that hold the things that are hers, and put them in her room. I arrange all the boxes and totes that are in the living room putting them into the rooms they are suppose to go in. Since all the boxes and totes are in there proper rooms I go back to my room and start to unpack.

"Rain! Rain! Where are you?" I hear Ame holler coming through the door. I hurry to the stairs. Standing at the top I holler back down. "I am right here. I am unpacking the things in my room, ill unpack the things in the kitchen after I am finished in my room. You can put the boxes and totes that just arrived in their proper rooms and then I'll show you your room. I mean I put all your things in a room I thought you would like, but if you don't like the room and want one of the others I will help you move the totes and boxes to that room."

"I bet I will like the room you picked just fine" She smiles and starts moving the boxes and totes to their proper locations. I go to my room and finish unpacking. I go to the stairs just as Ame steps on the first step. "Ok I am done taking care of the totes and boxes, you can show me my room now." She says making her way up the stairs in a timely manner.

"I think you will love it! It is very nice, it is similar to mine." I say leading her to her room. I open the door for her and step in. She steps in and smiles at me. "I love it! I will unpack the rest you can go have dinner with Ryker and hang out at the mall or something. Make sure you are back in time to go to the club tonight." She says starting to unpack her things. I nod and go back to my room and lay on the bed. I take out my phone and dial Ryker's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ryker, it's Rain. Would you want to go out to dinner and go shopping at the mall tonight?"

"Yes I would love to. Do you want me to come pick you up?"

"No I have my car. I will come pick you up at the gate in 30 minutes."

"Alright see you then, bye."

"Bye"

I hang up the phone and go back to Ame's room. I knock on the door and walk in.

"Do you need me to get anything when I go to the mall?"

"No , you can't get what I want with him. You could get some more outfits though. I only got a few when I went and you don't want Grayson to think you only have a few pairs of clothes."

"Ame we have a lot of clothes, believe me I know I packed!"

"Yes but we don't have very many club outfits."

"Alright I am going to take a quick shower then I am gone."

I run to the bathroom and take the fastest shower I have ever taken. There is no time to stand in the warm water just absorbing the heat no time to mess around. I quickly get out and throw my hair up into a messy bun. I put on a little make up, mascara and eyeliner. No time for anything else. I quickly run back into my room and get some clothes out of the closet and slip them on. I grab the keys off the top of my dresser and run down the stairs. I run out to my car and jump in starting it up. I take off with record speed.

I get there to see Ryker leaning against the gate. He pushes off and walks over to my car getting in. "Nice car. Where are we going?"

"How about the food court at the mall then a little shopping. Ame want me to get us some cute club dresses."

"Sounds good." He nods buckling his seat belt .

"Rain." He says then pauses. I glance over at him. He sighs. "Never mind." The rest of the ride was silent except for my radio.

I pull into a parking space and turn the car off. "Ok lets go to the food court first. I am starving, I have been packing and unpacking all day." He nods and we pile out of the car.

We get into the mall and Ryker gets the food and I get a table. I pick one closer to the corner, we can see everyone but we are hidden behind a plant so they cannot see us.

Ryker looks around to try and find me. I stand up and wave to get his attention. He smiles and makes his way over to the table. He sets the food down on the table and sits in his chair.

"You know Ryker, I am glad we are friends. Why don't you come to the club with me and Ame tonight? I haven't seen you there in a while."

"I don't know Ame. I don't think Grayson wants me there any more and he does own the place."

Sighing I take a bit of my burger. "I am sorry I have put a strain on your friendship with him. I didn't mean to. Maybe tonight you can come with me and we can talk to Grayson!" I excitedly look up at him and see him pondering the idea.

"Alright Rain. I will try to make amends with Grayson."

We finish eating and take care of our trash. "Ready to go shopping?"

"Yes I guess."

"Do you have to get anything? I just have to get a few outfits."

"Actually yes. I'll go get it real quick while you look at some clothes and I'll meet you back at your shop." He says taking off towards a store.

"I can go with you, I'm not in a hurry." I say stopping him in his tracks. He turns to me nervous.

"No! I mean no it's ok I'll meet you at your store. I know how girls are when they are shopping. I thought you wanted to go to the club tonight." He says with nervous laughter.

"Alright I'll just be in this store. I will be checking out other stores though. So if I am not here then I'll be in the next clothing shop." I smile and walk into the store. I turn and watch him go into a dark store a few shops down.

He seemed very nervous when I wanted to go with him. My hunter instincts tell me to follow him, but with this mission I don't know if I should follow him. Ame will know, she is my partner and she will want to be informed anyways. I'll just call her.

"Rain?"

"Yes, it's me. Ryker went off into a dark store and he didn't want me to go with him. I have a feeling I should follow him but I don't know if I should. Do you think I should follow and risk getting caught?" I whisper into the phone.

"Yes follow, but be careful."

"Alright bye."

I put the phone back into my pocket and casually walk to the store. I walk in and hide behind a clothes rack. I wait and watch as Ryker is talking to the guy at the register.

"Layne called me last night. We have a lead on the stone."

"Grayson and you still not speaking with each other? What kind of lead?"

"No but I am hoping to fix that tonight. Grayson's girl just moved into an old house and the previous owners are Dunstan Aleixo and Aminah Tsukiko. The traitor girl and her lover, the ones who have the stone. We need to find out where this house is and we need to search it. There is a meeting tomorrow morning, and you need to be there."

"Alright man I'll be there."

After hearing this. I hurry back to the store and throw a bunch of cute dresses in my arm. Out of the corner of my eye I see Ryker coming towards me.

"Hey, it looks like you have found a lot of clothes." I smile back at him. A fake smile but he doesn't know that.

"Yes I am going to try them on. I'll be back in a bit." I say hurrying towards a dressing room.

I get in the room and set everything on a bench in the room. I look over the selection and pick out a couple dresses that I like. Not needing to try them on, I know they are my size and will fit. I pick out a couple that I know will look great on Ame and put the rest on a rack in the room.

I walk over to the cash register lady and set the dresses on the counter. Ryker comes over and smiles up at the lady.

"This is enough. I don't need to go to any other stores. These dresses should do."

He smiles at me. "I was wrong. You are not like other girls. You are much better. No waiting for hours to get one outfit, or one pair of shoes."

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me I forgot to get the shoes. That wont take much time though the store is just right over there." I say pointing towards the shop. I pay for the dresses and hurry to the shoe shop. Ryker following me chuckling the whole way.

"What's so funny?" I ask going into the store.

"Just you."

I grab some heels that match the dresses and go to the Cashier setting the boxes on the counter. I pay and make my way out of the store and out of the mall. All the while with Ryker trailing behind me. I set the bags in the back and get in starting the car.

"I still say you are much faster than any other woman I have shopped with. And I didn't have to carry all the bags."

"Thanks. So will I see you at the club tonight?"

"Yes, I'll be there." He says smiling at me.

We make small talk the rest of the way back to the apartments. I drop him back off at the gate and go home. It's nice to say home and mean my big dark beautiful house.

I pull into the driveway. My long, dark, twisting driveway. I walk into the house with the bags on my arms. Ame comes down the stairs and leads me to the living room.

"Well I finished unpacking everything in my room and in the kitchen. We don't have to worry about the big things, This house seems to have everything. I had the guys leave the beds we had at the apartments there. We still have a lot of rooms to unpack though. We have to go grocery shopping too. We will worry about all that tomorrow. What did you get? More important, what did you find out when you followed Ryker?"

I set the bags down on the floor and sit on the couch. Ame sits down next to me looking at me waiting for me to answer.

"Well he went in and talked to a guy working at the shop. He said they are having a meeting tomorrow morning about us, well our house. He said they need to find our house and they need to search it. At the meeting I think they are going to plan a way for me to bring Grayson or Ryker over, or they will have you bring Layne."

"Yes probably, but they wont let Layne do it. There isn't any harm to her since we are humans. They don't know we are hunters so they wont see any harm. But they are guys and they wont let the woman do it. I have seen how Grayson babies Layne, he wont allow her to be the one to search. But just in case it is her they send, I will make sure to never bring her here. We cannot bring anyone home. They may be smart and try to trick us into meeting a vampire that we would think is human and have them over. We must not bring anyone over. We were tricked by Ryker at first remember."

"Yes we cannot bring anyone over. I think we should search the house before we leave tonight and more in the morning when we wake up. We have to find a clue. Some indication as to where they are going. It might help if we knew what the moon child and her warrior lover look like too."

"Yes we will have to find an old picture or something. Maybe something will be in the library. What do you have planned for tonight?" Ame asks switching topics.

"Well nothing really except I was suppose to help Grayson and Ryker become friends again but I don't think that would be to our advantage anymore. So now I think I will have to make Grayson extremely jealous so he doesn't fully trust Ryker. It might mess up that meeting."

Smiling deviously Ame nods. "Yes that is perfect. Now show me what we will be wearing." She states. It is a very rare occasion when Ame lets me do the shopping for missions. It is more her thing

Picking up the first bag I bring out a dress for her. It is a short diamond halter top dress. I grab the box that has the shoes to go with it and open the box showing her the black pointy toed heels. Ame squeals excited. "That's perfect for me! I know exactly what I am going to do with my hair and make up." She claps her hands bouncing up and down on the couch and I can't help but laugh.

"Show me more!"

I reach back into the bag and pull out another dress I picked out for her. A short purple dress with tank top sleeves and slim hugging bottom. I picked out six dresses for her and six dresses for me, each dress has a pair of shoes to match. The shoes that match this dress are dark almost black purple round toed heels.

Ame motions for me to keep going. I pull out another dress I picked out for her. It is a short silky dark purple dress with diamond straps. I pull out the matching shoes, silky dark purple pointy toed heels. I hand them over to Ame and pick out the next dress. A short passion red spaghetti strap dress. I pull out the matching red open toed heels.

I hand that outfit to Ame and grab the next outfit out. A fire engine red tank top dress with matching round toed red heels. Again I hand this outfit to her and bring out the next outfit. A short black spaghetti strap dress with silver sequins at the neckline and the matching black round toed heels.

The next outfit is for me and Ame knows that as soon as I pull out the short hot pink form fitting dress with matching pink round toed heels.

"You have to wear that tonight! All the guys will be looking at you which will make Grayson so jealous! All his friends that come from ways away will be there tonight ready for the meeting in the morning. I have a feeling Grayson will have them come tonight so they can see you and know who owns the house. All his friends will be drooling over you! This may be a job to him but he cannot deny his feelings for you!" Ame exclaims excitedly.

I smile and pull out the next dress which is a short softer pink dress with matching open toed light pink heels. I set the outfits off to the side and pick out the next dress. A loose bright pink tank top styled dress that hugs my hips and legs at the bottom with the matching round toed pink heels. I set that outfit next to the others in my pile and bring out the next. A baby blue form fitting spaghetti strap dress with matching open toed baby blue and white heels.

I show her the next to dresses and shoe one dress is bright yellow and the next forest green. I grab my pile and head to my room with Ame following suit.

"It looks like we don't have enough time to search the house. We will have to start when we get back. We should start getting ready. I nod and go into my room, not saying a word.

I hang the dresses up in the walk in closet leaving the dress I'll be wearing tonight on my bed. I got to the bathroom and start the shower. I get undressed and step in. The warm water splashing on my skin.

"This may be a job to him but he cannot deny his feelings for you." repeating over and over in my head. Does he really have feelings for me? Do my feelings match his own? No, I cannot feel anything for him. This is a mission nothing more.

I get out feeling fresh and clean. I dry myself off and walk over to the sink. Wrapping the towel around me I look at myself in the mirror. I quickly pick out hot pink eye shadow, black mascara and black eyeliner. I set them off to the side and grab the blow dryer. The hot air blowing on my drying hair. Shutting off the blow dryer I turn on the curling iron. I curl my hair leaving it to cascade down my back. My straight bangs framing my face. I apply the make up and go to my room to get dressed.

I slip into my dress and put on necklace with a black painted wooden star pendent. I walk out of my room to the stairs holding my shoes in my hand, where I see Ame with her hair in a tight bun with her long wooden pins in her hair. I make my way down the stairs to her. She smiles looking at my sharp tipped wooden star pendant. The thin silver chair around my neck is long so that the star can be easily used.

"Tonight is a good night to carry our weapons. There are going to be many vampires tonight. With a mission like this we cannot take our knives so we must wear our jewelry. Good choice, many points and a long easy to remove chain."

I slip my heels on and we head out the door to her car. We get to the club in a short time and walk past the line up to John.

"Hi John!" I say smiling sweetly.

"Hello Rain, you look nice tonight as do you Ame."

We both say our thanks and he lets us in. We walk over to the V.I.P. room and knock on the door. Grayson opens the door and smiles at me letting us in. He wraps his arm around my waist and leans down toward my ear. "You look very nice tonight." He leans back up and looks over toward his 5 male friends and Layne. Layne smiles and comes over toward Ame.

"These are our friends. Guys this is my Rain and her friend Ame."

My Rain, I like that it's possessive. It is his way of telling his friends not to harm me or my friend.

"Rain, Ame these are my friends. This is Cain." He says gesturing towards a man with shaggy dark brown hair and black eyes. One of the vampire that will be attending the meeting.

"This is Gavin." He says pointing at the man sitting next to Cain. He has long white hair tied into a ponytail and the black eyes of a vampire.

"This is Ivan." He say moving his hand to point at the guy next to Gavin. The guy was dark, very dark. Black eyes, long black hair, black clothes, black combat boots. Blood red lips, the only color on his.

Ivan looked up at me like all the others when their names were called, only his look was chilling and the smile made goose bumps trailing down my spin. His sinister black eyes tormenting me.

" This is Liam." Grayson went on as if he was oblivious to Ivan's chilling smile. I look over to the man Grayson is pointing to. Liam is a man with blazing red hair and lips to match, the same black eyes as the rest of the vampires only somehow his seem to be more alive, moving like fire.

"And this is Slade." Grayson says finishing off with the man sitting alone on the chair farthest away. He Has short light brown hair and the typical black eyes of a vampire. He looks like he is around 16 years old, boyish.

Grayson pulls me over to a chair and I sit on his lap, uncomfortable with all the vampires in the room watching us. A knock on the door temporarily distracting them. Layne goes over to open the door letting Ryker in. Grayson stiffens I can feel the tension running threw his body. I smile up at Ryker. He smiles back at me checking me out.

"Is that one of the dresses you bought today?" He ask coming over and sitting in a chair next to us.

"Yes! I bought these shoes today too!" I say lifting my legs up so he can see my feet. Every vampire in the room staring at me like I am to be their next meal. Suddenly Ame appears in front of me. "Want to go dance?" I jump off of Grayson's lap nodding my head. I follow her out to the middle of the dance floor.

"Your doing great." She says simply incase any vampires are around to hear.

"Thanks, do you want to head out early?"

"Yeah, gives us more time to finish the house." Meaning it would give us more time to search for clues.

We finish the song and go back to the room. Layne lets us in looking worriedly over at Ryker and Grayson, who look like they are at each others throats.

"Ame and I are going to head out early, do a little more unpacking."

Grayson comes over and puts his arm around my waist. Ryker looking like he is about to blow steam out of his ears. I hurry over to Ryker letting Grayson's arm fall away from my waist. I hug Ryker and ask him if he wants to go shopping again tomorrow.

"Yeah sure. I have to get a book for one of my classes. I forgot to get it today when we were there. Call me when you're ready to go." He says smiling.

I walk back over to Grayson, who is fuming. He places his arm tighter around my waist this time and leads me out the door with Ame following. We get to the car and he stops and turns to me.

"I wish I could take you out somewhere. The party plans are over, its not going to happen. I have never seen you outside of the club. Never seen you in normal school clothes. I am always so busy."

"That's alright, it's not a big deal. When you get some time your should call me and we can go somewhere." I say smiling at him. I am not inviting him to the house.

"Alright. You really do look very nice tonight. I should let you go before Ame leaves without you." He says chuckling. He kisses me and opens the car door for me. I slide in and he shuts the door. We watch him go back into the club and Ame heads home. We stay silent the whole way home. Except for Ames one sentence. "May have trailers." Which means don't say anything we may have Vampires following us.

She took a different rout home, longer, just to make sure we didn't have any followers. We quickly run to the house after Ame parks the car. We get in and lock the door. Without saying a word she leads me to the pantry. She bends down and moves the rug. I pull the piece of flooring up and Ame grabs a flashlight. I set the piece of flooring aside and descend the stairs after Ame. Ame turns and shakes her head. I stop and she motions for me to out the piece of flooring back in place. I quickly go back up and pull the flooring over my head, making the stair way pitch black. The only light we have is the flashlight and that isn't much help.

Suddenly Ame flicks on a switch and light emulates the room. She walks over to the wall and knocks on it.

"It is sound proof. I had a feeling it would be." She says setting the flashlight down on a shelf.

"The only time we are to talk about this mission is when we are down here. We must make sure we are alone also."

"We didn't this time."

"Yes but we are alone. I set an alarm system on the stairs earlier and it hasn't went off."

"How do I turn it off?" I ask not liking the fact that she didn't tell me about this before.

"You need a key. I will have one made for you but in the mean time we need to look for clues." She says heading to the fire place. I follow her over and pull the metal fence like thing in front of the fire place away. Ame gets on her knees and searches threw the ashes.

"Nothing here. I guess we should search through all the books." She says looking at all the rows of book cases. I sigh and start at the opposite end so we will work our way to the middle and get more area searched.

I grab a book flipping through the pages looking for anything that might be a clue. Nothing, I can't find anything. This search seems to be a waste of time. I mean why would they leave a clue behind that would lead the vampires right to them. That would make no sense. But they may have forgotten something, so I'll keep checking.

Hours later I meet Ame in the middle of the room. "I found nothing." Ame sighs disappointed. "Me either." I look around at all the rows with millions of books all not having a single clue. One book case catches my eye. It stands out from all the rest, because it is away from the rest of them. It is on a corner wall hidden behind the paintings that are draped against it.

"Ame, did you check that book case?" I ask pointing towards the old hidden book case.

After a slight hesitation Ame turns toward me. "No, I didn't even notice it." She says ashamed that her hunter skills failed her.

We walk over to it and take the paintings off the case careful not to harm the paintings. The book case is full of very old books, many look to be in other languages.

I pull out a book, the cover is a dark blue on the left side with a moon on the top left corner and light blue on the right side with a sun on the top right corner. There is a girl in a white dress with raven black hair under the moon who looks to be dancing with a boy in an armored suit and blonde hair who is under the sun. In between the boy and the girl where their hands are clasp together is a black stone.

"Ame I think this tells the story of the lovers and the black stone." I state simply handing the book over to her.

She inspects the book cover then opens the book. A piece of paper falls out and I bend down to pick it up.

"Yes, yes it looks like it is. What's on that paper?"

I unfold the thin paper and it is blank. "Nothing. Maybe it was suppose to be a bookmark." I suggest flipping the paper back and forth but see nothing on either side.

"Well if it was in fact a bookmark then we are not going to figure out the page it was on. I think you are right though I think it was ment to be a bookmark. We should look through the rest of the books on this case. We can look through this book later and see if we can find anything we don't already know."

I nod and go through the books finding nothing that could help us find any information about the moon child and her warrior lover. I look at Ame and notice the only book in her hand is the one I found before so I assume she hasn't found anything either.

"Well it's late we should go to sleep, we can look through this book tomorrow." Ame says walking over to the big brown leather chair and sitting the book in it.

"Yeah, I am ready to get out of this dress." I say following her up the stairs.

Ame set the alarm back on and shut the lights off turning the flashlight on. We made our way back up the stair and through the dining room and the kitchen to the other set of stairs leading up to our rooms. I went to my room and immediately put on my pajamas, glad to get out of those shoes that were killing my feet and the to tight dress. I lay down on my new big bed and fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

I wake up to the sound of Ame banging on my door. "Rain! Wake up! Rain! Don't make me break the door down!" Ame screams continuing to bang on the door.

"Alright, alright I'm coming." I grumble dragging myself out of bed and stumbling on my way to the door. I open the door and glare at her. "What do you want?"

"I want you to get up and come downstairs with me." She says dragging me through the door and down the stairs all the way to the pantry. Grabbing the flashlight Ame kicks the rugs away from the floor door leading to the library. She pulls the piece of floor off and turns the flashlight on.

"Don't forget to shut this." She says descending the stairs down to the library. I quickly follow pulling the floor piece back in place over my head. The light flashes on and Ame turns the flashlight off, going over to the big chair with the book in it. She sets the flashlight down on the small table in front of the big chair. On the other side of the table is an identical chair.

Ame sits down on one chair and I take the other. Skimming through the book, she looks for anything that catches her attention. On the other side of the table I cannot see anything and am slightly annoyed. She woke me up to sit here while she goes threw the book. She could have done this by herself.

I get up and head to the stairs. Ame looks up. "Where are you going?" She asks getting irritated. "I am going to take a shower. You don't need me here, I wasn't doing anything." I say crossing my arms daring her to try and stop me. Sighing she nods.

"Fine but before you do could you bring me down a pen and a pad of paper. I want to take notes. You know, so we don't have to keep searching threw the book. I think it would be safer if we get what we need out of the book and put it back in its hiding place. I don't want anyone to sneak into the house like they did Maya and Evangeline's apartment. They thought Evangeline had something of interest and by they I mean you boy friend and his vampire posse. They know who this house belonged to and they will more than likely want to search it. We didn't get to meet all of his friends, so we need to keep a look out. We don't know what they look like so watch out for some over friendly, hot guy or girl. I doubt they would send a girl but they might."

Nodding I turn around and head back up the stairs. I rummage threw the office room upstairs and fish out a pen and pad of paper. I take them back down to Ame And head back up the stairs, making sure I cover the flooring with the rug. If anyone does come while I am in the shower, they wont think to look in the pantry for clues, but if they did stumble upon it then Ame wouldn't be safe. Better safe then sorry, and it's important especially now to take extra precautions.

I head back up to my room and gather my clothes to change into when I get out of the shower. Another minor precaution, be prepared. I head to the bathroom and shut and lock the door behind me.

We have to be prepared. Even the little things matter. The vampires had their meeting this morning. Who knows when they will make their move. Probably sooner rather than later.

After stepping into the bathroom, I sit my clothes down on the sink counter. Twisting the cold metal handle in the shower, water pours out. I strip my clothes off and step into the shower. Instantly feeling the hot water warm up my body. The worry and tension drain away with the water, starting from my head and trailing down my body until I am fully relaxed, in a dreamy state, with nothing strenuous to think about.

I turn the water off and step out of the shower into bitter ice cold air. As soon as I feel the ice cold air hit my warm pink body, my mind loses the dreamy state and reality takes back over. Goosebumps spread through my now cold body and I dry off with my towel quickly. I get dressed and blow dry my hair until it lays flat. Then I put my hair in a loose bun and put in my wooden hair sticks.

I walk out of the bathroom and into my nice, clean, new room. I walk over to my bed and sit down. Pulling my slippers on my freezing cold feet. Looking around my room I spot my pink ipod and walk over to my dresser to get it. I grab it and notice it's dead. Sighing I put it back and walk over to my bed and lay down, not really wanting to go back to the library.

I'm the one who finds the book and its hiding place and she takes over. Typical Ame I guess, but normally it's more with physical work. I don't know, maybe she feels that this is more of her mission because I have to be Ryker's friend and Grayson's girlfriend. She doesn't have a big part in that mission like she does in every other mission. Maybe that's why she is taking over everything on this mission. I know that we have never had more than one mission before. I also know that the missions we have had before don't compare to the level of danger in these missions. These missions alone are extremely dangerous but they are linked together so now we have double the danger.

Drifting off into sleep. The hazy light disappearing as I close my eyes willing the sun to set and the darkness to surround me. That is until I hear the unmistakable sound of the floor squeaking. Hearing no footsteps I assume it is just the house, and drift back into my slumber. Again I hear the floor squeak and I strain my ears to hear anything outside my door. Nothing.

I close my eyes for a brief minute. My bedroom door squeaks open. I can sense someone in my room but I keep my eyes closed pretending to be asleep. It's not Ame and no human can walk that quietly, like they are gliding across the floor, the only noise made are the old wooden floors and the hinges on the old doors. This means only one thing, this person is a vampire.

I am now all to aware of the wooden hair pins in my hair and am glad I decided to put them on. I wish I had my long wooden sword but that is under my bed in its case and I simply wouldn't have enough time to get it out before the vampire attacked.

"Anything in here?" A strong, smooth male voice asks.

"Shh! Don't wake up the girl. We don't want to have to hurt her. And don't give me that look unless you want to be the one to tell Grayson you hurt his little human girl." A smooth male voice harshly whispers back.

Two, there are two of them. I cannot fight to male vampires with two small hair pins. I could try but without Ame it's useless. If these are Grayson's friends they must be powerful and I can't blow my cover. It seems like they don't want to hurt me, so maybe there is a way to make them leave without a fight. I sigh and turn my head in their direction keeping my eyes closed. I grumble like I am waking up. They don't want to get caught either so if I slowly wake up then they will have enough time to get out. At least that is what I want them to think.

I hear the door close and the creaking of the floor as they make their escape. I decide to wait awhile before going down to tell Ame, just to make sure they don't stay around to spy. After a half hour of sitting on my bed I get up and hurry down to Ame making sure I hide the library stairs behind me.

She is still in the same chair as before but now she is scribbling things out on her notepad. I hurry over to the chair I sat in earlier.

"Ame, there were vampires in my room." She abruptly stops writing in her notepad and looks up at me.

"What? When? Did you kill them?" She jumbles out and sets her notepad and pen down on the table, giving me her full attention.

"Well I laid down on my bed after I got done with my shower to take a little nap. I say feeling guilty. "Then I heard the floor squeak then the door opened and there were two male vampires in my room. I pretended to be asleep so I didn't see them, but I heard them talking and they are friends of Grayson. They wont hurt us because they don't want Grayson to come after them, which is why they left. I pretended to start waking up." I conclude looking at Ame's thoughtful gaze.

"Well Then we cannot let them find this room. We must make sure to shut the door to this room. We must also not come in here very often, only when necessary. Which means we have to find as much as we can in the book today." She says going back to the book. "You might want to go over the notes and see if you can find anything out." I grab the notepad and scan over Ame's notes.

It just says what Ame already told me of their story. No clues. Some prophecies.

The Black Stone,

She shall own.

The girl with locks of gold,

Whose heart is never cold.

From warrior to warrior,

From core to core.

By loving the boy with hair of russet,

She will see her last sunset.

The Black Stone,

She shall own.

I hate prophesies, they are so cliché. And what does this even mean, seriously. I scoff and look back up at Ame. She is engrossed in the book still. I sigh and get up.

"I think I am going to call Ryker and see if he wants to go to lunch." Ame looks up from the book. "Get as much information about the meeting this morning as you can." She says then disappears behind the book again.

I go up the stairs and make sure to cover the floor with the rug. I jog up the stairs and to my room. I grab my cell phone and plop down on my bed.

"Hello?"

"Hey! It's Rain. Do you want to have lunch?"

"Oh! Yes that would be nice."

"Alright I'll pick you up in a couple minutes at the gate."

"Okay, I'll see you then. Bye"

I hang up the phone and put it in my purse. I jog back down the stairs and out the door to my car. Hopping in, I put my purse on the passenger seat. Going down the long, dark, twisty driveway doesn't seem to take so long anymore. It doesn't take long to get to town. Pulling up to the gate I see Ryker walking towards me. He opens the door and hops in.

"So, where are we going?"

"Well there is this new restaurant I want to try. It's a couple towns over. Do you mind?" I ask pulling away from the gate and onto the road.

"No! No, I don't mind at all. Where ever you want to go is fine with me." I was hoping he would say that. I want to go to a place farther out so we have less of a chance of following vamps. I want to pump him for information without being to obvious. I want to be as inconspicuous as I can, I don't want to blow my cover.

I smile and look at him, briefly taking my eyes off the road. "So you and Grayson. Your all good now?"

"Yes, well some what. He still doesn't like us to hang out but you are my friend and he wouldn't want you mad at him." He chuckles sinisterly. "He cares a lot for you. Do you feel the same way about him? Would you stop talking to me if he asked you to?" He asks scrutinizing me.

"Well, I don't like to rush things, and frankly he is moving a bit to fast for me." He smiles secretively. I know what he is thinking about. Fast. He, a vampire, is to fast for a human. He's thinking that the little statement means more than I, a human, would know. He is wrong. I get it, I am a hunter after all, but he wont know that until it's to late.

"No, I wouldn't stop talking to you. We are friends." This time his smile was happy and sincere.

"So why were all those guys there last night?" His smile diminishes briefly and then a large fake smile plasters his face.

"Oh the guys are just in town, like a little get together. They might be staying for awhile. They are real good friends of ours. Layne use to date Ivan, but neither one of them could stay together for long. They both have traveling issues. Ivan doesn't like to stay in one place for long and Layne, well Layne wants to stay with the only family member she has left, Grayson." His voice softening with understanding at the end.

I remember Ivan, or Ivan the terrible as I like to think of him. His chilling demeanor. Irresistible good looks, hollow black eyes filled with power and hate, lips the color of fresh blood, skin as smooth as stone and pale as snow. All together an unforgettable person.

"What about the younger one, Slade I think, how old is he?" And by that I mean how old was he when he was turned.

"He is unbelievably eighteen. He looks younger though. He's Cain's younger brother" Yes they did look to be related.

"I assume he is the youngest out of all of you, right?"

"Yes he is, and I don't think it makes him very happy. He always sit off to the side away from the rest of us. He doesn't really fit in and he doesn't make friends because him and Cain move a lot. I feel for the kid."

Plus he is a vampire and vampires don't generally make human friends because, they either change, kill, or leave them because they cannot tell the human they are a vampire. I don't think this kid really wants to be a vampire. I don't think it was his choice either.

"Rain. Why Grayson? What do you like about him?" He asks looking out the side window away from me, shielding his face. Brought out of my thoughts suddenly I look over to him than back to the road.

I sit silently for a couple minutes. What can I say. I know I can't say that this is my mission not my choice, which is the truth. "Oh I don't know. Why do you ask?" It is partially the truth, I guess, maybe.

"No reason. How do you not know? I mean if you like the guy there has to be a reason." He says now staring me down.

"Well I don't really know him that well but he seems like a really nice guy and I am trying to get to know him better. He isn't like the other guys I've dated." I've never dated a vampire nor have I dated a guy for a mission. " I quit dating for a couple years. I was trying to focus on my studies more and with my friends and studies I didn't have time to deal with boyfriend drama. It is different now. I have the house and I am almost through with college. I have more time to be with my friends and that means I have enough time to have a boyfriend. And, well he was the first to ask, so I am just going to see where this goes. You know?"

I pull up to the restaurant. And park the car close to the door. "Yeah I get it." He says sullenly getting out of the car. We quietly go into the restaurant and a overly cheerful waitress greats us.

"Hi! Just the two of you?"

"Yes just us." Ryker says stepping in front of me to get a better view of the bouncy waitress. My stomach tightens and I clench my fists. I unclench my fists and put on a calm façade .

"Right this way." She says swaying to our table. Ryker follows, openly watching her every move. " Will this be on one bill or separate." She asks as we take our seats.

Ryker looks at the waitress then at me then back at the waitress trying to decide what to say. I take the initiative and speak for both of us. "Separate. Two bills please."

She brightens and turns toward him now fully ignoring me. "What can I get you to drink?" If only she knew what drink he really wants from her. She wouldn't be sticking her chest in his face.

"Water for me. Rain?" The waitress' face wrinkles in confusion. "Rain water?" I bite my lip trying not to openly laugh. Obviously he was looking at me when he said it not asking you if you stored rain water. "No, no I was asking rain what she wants to drink." He says watching my lips with a sultry smile on his. The waitress' reddens and she embarrassedly turns to me. "What can I get you to drink?" She mumbles. "Oh I'll have water too."

She writes down our drink orders and gives us our menus and scurries away. I look at my menu for a couple minutes undecided. "What are you going to get?" I ask looking over my menu at him. "I think I'm going to get the steak and potatoes." The special for this little country diner.

The waitress come back with her head held high and another button on her blouse unbuttoned. She sits down the breadsticks basket along with our drinks, leaning over Ryker to give him his.. "Are you ready to order?" Ryker looks at me and I nod. "You can go first." He folds his menu and looks up at the waitress. "I will get the steak, rare, and with it I want the baked potato." She scribbles down the order. "Can I get you _anything_ else." She says provocatively. "That is all for me. You can put these both on one bill though, there is no need for two. Rain have you decided what you would like?"

"Yes, I want the antipasto salad with ranch dressing." The waitress writes down our order and storms away. I grab a breadstick and nibble on it. "Excuse me I'm going to the restroom. I'll be back before lunch gets here." He says smiling at me and getting up. I watch him walk away and disappear around the corner. A good ten minutes and a half empty basket later he comes back seeming satisfied. His complexion is darker and his lips have reddened. His eyes are more lively.

The waitress comes back with an airy look on her face. She doesn't look like she can lift the try with out plates very well. She slowly gives us our plates and sluggishly walks away.

He has fed on our waitress. He got the drink he wanted. Now he will eat his steak and pretend he likes it while I try to choke down my lunch thinking about his previous meal.

"So are you going to the club tonight?"

I'll have to call Ame and run this idea by her but I don't think it would be a good idea to leave the house without finding as many clues as we can first. We don't want to leave anything in the house they could use to beat us to the moon child and her warrior lover. We need to beat them their. They could find a clue a lot easier than we could. They have had many years to study over all the information, they may have even lived then.

I swallow my bite of salad. "Oh I don't think so." I say digging back into my salad, glad to think of my mission instead of his last meal.

"Grayson will go crazy if you don't come. He over eats and gets moody, but don't tell him I told you that." He says smirking.

By over eating he means someone will probably die tonight unless I am there to keep Grayson busy. He has nothing better to do than watch over his club, it would be just like a buffet. He sees what he likes and he takes it. Maybe I can go to the club and Ame can stay home. It is a very bad idea to separate us, dangerous, but if he kills someone it would be my fault.

"I don't know, I don't think Ame wants to go tonight and I don't normally go without her."

"You can convince her to go. I know you can. You should come tonight. It would give you a chance to get to know our guys better. And I know Grayson would like that very much as long as they don't touch you or even look at you the wrong way." He says chuckling.

Rolling my eyes I take the last bite of my salad. "I'll try but I don't really want to go alone and I know she doesn't want to go at all tonight."

The different waitress comes out with our bill. Ryker graciously paid the bill and we went out to my car. All the while I didn't see our waitress. They probably sent her home which would be a good thing except she probably shouldn't be driving.

The drive back to Ryker's apartment was not long. In no time at all I pull up at the gate and let him out. "You really should come tonight. You don't need Ame to protect you. Grayson wouldn't let anything happen to you and neither would I. That's a promise." He says shutting the door. I nod back to him and pull away.

I turn down the radio and think of what I should do tonight. Lost in thought I get to my long, dark, twisting driveway that I have come to love and pull up in front of my large, luxurious, dark home glad Ame agreed to get this place instead of the bright, open house.

I walk into the house and go directly down to the hidden library, knowing that is exactly where Ame is. I remember to pull the rug over the door as best as I can and make my way down the narrow stairs. I see Ame sitting in the chair looking over her notes.

"Ame can we talk about tonight?"

She looks up startled. "Oh Rain. Yeah sure we can. What are you thinking?" She says putting her notepad down on the table. I walk over to the chair opposite her and take a seat.

"Well Ryker said that if I don't go to the club Grayson gets moody and hungry. So I have to go but we also have to stay here to guard this room and the book. I don't want anyone to die though. I have never went to the club alone though and I don't want you to stay here alone. What do you think we should do?"

She looks at me scrutinizing the situation. "Well I guess you should go. I don't want you to go alone though. I mean I know Ryker and Grayson wont hurt you, you've done very good they both trust you, but I don't know the other guys. I will be fine here alone they wont know I am down here it is sound proof and I will put up some more security devices. I will be fine but I don't know about you going alone." She sits quietly pondering what to do.

My pocket vibrates and I answer my cell. "Hello?"

"Rain?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"This is Grayson. Ryker gave me your number. I was wondering if you wanted me to pick you up at your house so you wont be alone? Ryker told me you didn't want to come alone and that Ame didn't want to come. It wouldn't be a problem I can pick you up and take you home whenever you like."

"Oh well sure that would be great. What time?"

"Well I was thinking I could pick you up at around 8 and take you to dinner then we could go to the club. Would you want to do that?"

"Yeah sure that would be great."

"Alright see you then!"

Well guess that solves my problem. "That was Grayson he wants to take me to dinner and to the club after. He said he would bring me home too." She looks up and shrugs. "Well guess the problem is solved then." And with that she picks up her notepad and studies her note completely ignoring me.

Not interested in sitting down here with nothing to do I go upstairs and go to my closet to pick out what I am going to wear tonight. I have 6 hours to waste till Grayson picks me up so I might as well take a long bath and make myself look amazing. I have to pick a dress that I can go to dinner in and can go to the club in. I pick out a green beaded mesh satin cocktail halter dress that goes just below my knees and I pick out match green peep toe high heels. (.com/hunter_hunted/set?id=7776992) I take them out of my closet and lay them on the bed. I go to my make up stand and pick out dark green eye shadow, black mascara, black eyeliner, dark green nail polish, and a dark green flower hair pin. I leave them out on the stand then go to the bathroom to run my bath.

As soon as the water fills the tub I strip down and ease myself in, letting the warm water envelop me. My muscles relax and I slowly drift to sleep.

I wake up to cold water and prunes for fingers. The clock says I have been sleeping for an hour. I get out of the tub and wrap the towel around me. I go over to the sink and dry my hair with the towel before I blow dry and straighten it. Walking back to my room I drop the towel in the hamper. I get my black lacey bra and panties on and go sit in front of my make up stand. I apply the eye shadow, mascara, and eyeliner. I pull my hair half up and pin it with the flower. I spray my hair with extra hold so the poof on my head will stay up.

Fully satisfied with my hair and make up I walk over to my bed and put my dress on. When I have my dress on right I look at myself in the large mirror on the wall. I don't look complete. I have missed something that would make this look even better than it already does. With this dress I cannot wear any type of wood it would just not look right, but I have to have some kind of protection.

I got it! I'll put one of my larger wooden necklaces in my purse. It would be inconspicuous in my purse and if asked it is a necklace so it would be easier to explain then a wooden dagger. But I am still missing something. I walk over to my jewelry stand putting the necklace in my purse and look at myself in the mirror on the stand. I pull out a white gold chain necklace with a diamond tear. It's perfect. I put it on and grab my shoes and purse. Walking down the stairs is better without heels. When I get to the bottom of the stairs I leave my shoes and purse on the bottom stair and go down to the hidden library to tell Ame I'll be leaving anytime now.

She is still down there looking over the book and checking her notes. "Ame, I am going to be leaving soon don't forget to put up the security devices and turn your cell on." She looks up and nods then goes back to her notes. "Nice dress, I wont forget. When are you coming home?" I sigh. "I don't know really but if your sleeping I have a key so I wont wake you." She nods again and continues to look over her notes after a couple minutes of silence I decide to go back up and grab m purse and shoes and see if Grayson id here.

"I sit on the stair and put on my heels. A knock at the door signals he is here. I grab my purse and head to the door. Opening the door I am greeted by Grayson and a bouquet of red roses. "Hello, these are for you." He says handing me the flowers.

"Oh, thank you they are beautiful. I'll just set them in the kitchen." I say hurrying them to the kitchen not bothering to put them in water. They are beautiful but I would rather them die then have him snoop the house and find some clue that Ame and I have over looked.

I speed back to the door. I squeeze past him and shut the door. Looking at me oddly he leads me to his car. His very shiny, expensive car, that makes my car look like a clunker. He opens the door for me like the ancient nobleman he is. I smile and scoot into the seat. I buckle as he gets in and starts the car.

"So where are we going?" I ask starting a conversation.

"It's a wonderful Italian restaurant. You like Italian food right?" He asks, eyebrows scrunching up with worry.

"Yes, I love Italian food. How about you, what do you eat?" Blood, I know but will you tell me? No, you will make up something and show me that I am not progressing n my mission, I think holding in a sigh.

"Any food is fine with me." He says chuckling nervously and chuckling uncomfortably. Confirming my thought.

"So what are we going to do tonight?" I ask smiling, pretending to be oblivious to his discomfort.

"Well I was hoping you could get to know the guys that I introduced you to. They are good friends of mine and it would be great if they got to know you. So what do you say? Are you willing to give it a go?" He says smiling as we pull into a parking place in front of a large Italian restaurant.

"Yes, I would love to get to know your friends." I smile back at him. He gets out of the car and hurries over to my door opening it. I step out and he shuts the door behind me. He puts his arm around my waist guiding me to the door of the restaurant. He opens the door and I walk in.

"Hello I'm Rosa and I will be serving you. Is it just the two of you?" I raven haired beauty says coming towards us with menus. She is stunning and I am absolutely jealous. Her big, warm, chocolate brown eyes surrounded by full, thick black lashes. Her full, moist, red lips. Her raven black hair tied in a messy bun. Her perfectly curved body. She is breathtakingly beautiful. If it wasn't for her naturally tanned skin I would have thought she was a vampire.

"Yes just us." Grayson says putting his arm back around my waist, not paying the slightest bit of attention to our waitresses beauty.

"Alright, follow me please." She says leading us to our table near the back next to a large window. "Is this spot alright?" She asks stopping at our table.

"Yes, it's perfect. Thank you." Grayson says pulling out my chair. I sit and he walks around the table to take his seat. The beautiful Rosa gave us our menus and Grayson orders us something sweet to drink.

"I have no idea what to get." I proclaim after searching the menu. Everything sounded good. Just then Rosa comes back with our drinks.

"Do you know what you would like for dinner?" She asks and I continue to search my menu.

"Yes, we will both get this thank you." Grayson says showing the waitress what he wants. Rosa writes it down and takes our menus, leaving us without informing me of what he ordered.

"So what are we having?" I ask suspicious of what will be on my plate when she returns.

"It's a surprise." He says smiling and not giving any clues as to what I will be eating. I like to know what I am eating beforehand, so I don't put something in my mouth like tongue or eyes. I am just not into my food looking at me and I want to taste my food not have it taste me.

"Why don't you tell me a little about the guys before I meet them." I say taking my mind off the unknown food I will be getting.

"Well they are all like Layne, Ryker and I. Except Cain and Slade, they travel a lot. They haven't really made any place their home. They are all pretty good guys but you might want to watch out for Ivan. He has been known to cause trouble. He either likes you or he doesn't, there is no in between with him. It is probably best to be on his good side."

"Ryker said Layne and him use to be together." I say trying to get more information on both Layne and Ivan the terrible.

He sighs and our waitress comes back out with a full tray. She sets them in front of us and I finally get to see what I am eating. Ravioli. So simple and so not brains or eyes. I smile up at Grayson and he chuckles back. Rosa puts down a basket of garlic bread and leaves seeing that our drinks are full.

I take a bit of my ravioli and wait for him to answer my previous question.

"Yes they were. Ivan left her heart broken. She wouldn't let anyone know though, she pretended it didn't bother her. I watched as her love for him diminished. She was crushed. She has gotten over it with time and I see now that once he left here he left all his feelings of her behind. Coming here didn't bring them back. They will never be together again. Nobody can make Ivan commit for long. He will never have his forever partner."

I finish my ravioli listening to him talk. He finishes his as well and Rosa comes out with the check. Not once did Grayson's eyes linger on the beautiful waitress.

Grayson pays and we go out to the car. He opens the door and I get in and buckle as he hurries around and starts the car. In a short time we get to the club. We park out back and Grayson leads me in with his arm around my waist.

John nods to us as we pass and I smile back. Grayson leads me to the private room and knocks on the door. Layne pops her head out and opens the door for us.

All the guys are in there spread around the room. The first one I notice is Liam with his fiery orange hair. They all look up from what they are doing when we step into the room. Grayson steps forward. "Well guys, as you know Rain is my girl and I want all of you to get to know her and for her to get to know you. She has already met Ryker and we already know how he feels about her so there is no need for him to be here." And for the first time I realize that not all of the guys are here. Ryker is missing. Suddenly I feel more uncomfortable. "But as we all know how he feels he has come here tonight anyway." "He finished as a knock on the door signals that Ryker has arrived. The tension in my body drains and I feel more comfortable knowing that I will have a friend here. I am not good with meeting new people and Grayson really wants them to like me so it makes it a lot worse.

Ryker comes over to me smiling. "I didn't think you would want to actually meet the guys alone." He whispers. I smile back and nod. "Want to meet Cain. He is a pretty nice guy, he bites though." He says chuckling and walking over to Cain. I follow him over and sit on a chair next to him.

"Hello, Rain it is nice to finally talk to you. Grayson and Ryker talk about you so much I feel like I know you." He says warmly.

"It is nice get to finally talk to some of Grayson's friends, besides Ryker. Maybe you will have some stories that they wont tell me." I say looking into his dark black eyes. It is like looking into a wall, you see no emotion past what he wants you to see.

"Ah, I do have some stories about these two." He says chuckling. "So you haven't known them very long is what I am told. Grayson doesn't normally have us meet his girls until he has known them awhile and trusts them fully. What makes you so special? Your beautiful, but that doesn't mean you are trustworthy. You seem to be very nice but that doesn't mean you can be trusted. He hasn't even known you long enough to trust you. What makes these two like you so much?" He says bluntly, with a searching look.

The feelings you get when being interrogated is not a good feelings. I become more nervous under his stare. I feel like a deer caught in the headlights. The only thing I can say to answer that is, "I don't know," the truth.

"I do." Grayson says popping out of nowhere. "You are right her beauty has nothing to do with my trust in her. But you are wrong when you say her kindness doesn't make her trustworthy. About a week ago, I think it was, I felt ill and needed to rest but I didn't because I didn't want to leave the club and have Rain show up with me not being there or leave Layne to take charge of the club even though she repeatedly informed me she could do it without me." He stops, chuckling. "Rain came while I was in here laying down and after only knowing me a couple of days cared for me and, like Layne, told me that I was in no condition to run the club. I told her I only needed an hour of rest and I would be fine. She stayed with me in my room, laying next to me while I slept. She trusted me enough to lay in the bed with me. I knew even in that state of tiredness I would still be able to overpower her, and so did she, and she still followed me into my room and stayed there for an hour while I slept. She trusted me and I return that trust." He finishes sitting next to me with his arm around me.

While he was telling his story the rest of the guys brought up chairs and sat with us listening.

"Just because she trusts you doesn't mean you should trust her. It was just one hour." Cain argues disbelieving.

Suddenly we are in an argument about my trustworthiness, and I don't like it. Everyone has taken a side except Slade and Ivan they are just watching. Slade with detachment and Ivan with amusement. I, like them, am not part of the argument. I have been pushed aside and the only place in the argument I have is the fact that it is about me. Grayson, Ryker, and surprisingly Layne are backing me up, the rest of them seem to be against me.

The arguments back and forth are becoming over whelming. The voices surrounding me. I am trapped in the middle, their arguments never stop, it is becoming unbearable. I need to get out, I need to run, I need to go home.

Before I have the chance to run a surprising voice rings through the room. "That's enough!" Screams Slade. "Why don't you guys just take the time to get to know her before you make accusations. She doesn't even know why you are fighting. I think everyone just needs to tell her briefly what you are arguing about and get to know her."

Cain looks up shocked at his brothers outburst. "You're right brother. I guess we should give her a chance. I don't want to tell her why we were fighting, she can't know."

"Just trust me brother." Slade says coming over to me. I look over at him as he sits next to me. "We are in this sort of club. It's a forever club. No one else can know about it. Grayson, Ryker, and Layne want you to know about it. They don't want to have to hide it from you, but it isn't their decision. We are a group and we decided as a group." He says looking around at everyone in the room. They nod at him and he keeps going. "You are not even suppose to know this, but I think that everyone is ok with having you know why we are all together as long as you know nothing else about the club until everyone has agreed to let you know what our club is about. You can know nothing more about the club than you know now," He says looking at Grayson, Ryker, and Layne, "until we all agree."

Cain smiles and comes over. "My brother is right. I am sure everyone in the group agrees with him." He says and everyone mutters agreeing. "You cannot tell anyone what you know." I nod and he continues. "I guess we need to get to know you more so we can all trust you. So I'll let you get to know everyone while I talk to Grayson alone." He says backing away. Grayson looks at him and follows him out the door with a serious face.

Ryker looks at Layne and they both have knowing looks on their faces. They know what Grayson and Cain are going to talk about.

I look around the room at everyone. Slade is back to be distanced from everyone else in the room. Everyone else is talking and I sneak over to Slade.

"Hey." I say sitting next to him.

"Hey." He repeats slightly turning towards me.

"Thanks for stopping the argument, I thought my head was going to explode." I say confiding in him. He nods.

"You want to go for a walk outside? Get some fresh air." I ask hoping to get him away from the group so he will talk to me more.

"Sure." He says getting up and walking out the door with me following close behind.

We walk past the lights and the noise, into the cold air, past John and the line of people waiting to get in. We end by an alley. I stop as he continues his trek into the dark alley. It is quiet, the sounds of the club sounding so far away but in reality we are only on the side of the building a short distance away. I watch as he continues down the alley, refusing to follow I stay at the entrance of the alleyway. He stops and looks back at me.

"Are you coming?" He asks waiting for me. My hunter senses refuse to let me go into the dark dangerous alley with a vampire. My feet seem to be suck to the cold sidewalk.

"No, you shouldn't go into a dark alley, it could be dangerous. Don't you watch horror films or read books?" I say, feet still bolted to the ground.

"I wont let anything hurt you. If I did Grayson would kill me." He says logically. I stand there not moving not even contemplating going down in the alley. It isn't going to happen, my hunter senses wont let me move towards the alley.

Sighing in disbelief he walks back to me but doesn't stop. He continues past me down the road away from the club. Finally my legs move and I follow him. "Your brother doesn't seem to like me much." I say trying to start a conversation. He looks at me quickly and continues walking down the road. "He doesn't know you and he doesn't agree with how much Grayson trusts you. He doesn't think you are ready."

"Ready to join your club?" I scoff. "I was never asked if I wanted to join." I say getting angry. He laughs "You're not joining the club. No, no that is completely up to Grayson and maybe Ryker. We could all careless about you joining the club. Once you have joined there is no getting out or going back so it really doesn't matter if you know about it. You will be living by the club rules then. To know the club rules and not be in the club is dangerous to us, and that is why our group has to decide if we want you to know. We are the protectors of the club, the highest powers.

"Just what kind of club is this?" I ask already knowing. The club as they call it is the entire vampire race. They are a sort of silent mafia. Anyone who knows about them or goes against them dies. Well not everyone, the top hunters are very good.

"The club is life," he says then scoffs, "Or death." He turns around and heads back to the club, not saying anything more. He doesn't want to talk about the club. It is obvious that he doesn't enjoy being in the club. He stops before getting to the line of people.

"Look, I can't talk to you about the club till it is decided and neither can anyone else so don't waste your time asking everyone. They are not the most trusting people you will ever encounter and they don't know you, so you may not be able to know anything about the club. Don't think to much about it, it will drive you insane and knowing to much isn't the safest thing." He says then makes his way into the club.

I have had enough for one night and ask Grayson to take me home. He obliges hastily. We get out on the open road. My hair whipping around my face as the wind comes in through the open window. The ride silent except for the purr of the engine, the rapid wind rushing into the car through the window, and the animals and life outside of the car.

Breaking the silence Grayson fidgets in his seat. "So where did you and Slade go?" He looks at me searchingly for an answer.

"Oh we just went for a walk. It was kind of stuffy in the club." He nods and doesn't ask anymore questions. He pulls up the driveway and parks in front of the steps. My door opens and he lets me out walking me to the door like the gentleman he is. We say quick good byes and I slip into the house leaving him on the porch.


End file.
